Austin & Ally: Fears and Fatalities
by auslly-is-adorkable
Summary: Austin comes up with a great idea for a song - escaping fears. But when Austin and Ally are bombarded by situations challenging their fears, one after the other, they begin to lose hope in themselves. Will they ever escape their fears? *Note: All characters are those of 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and Disney.* *All lyrics are mine* *No copyright infringement intended* *Auslly*
1. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

**#FearsandFatalities on Twitter or Instagram! I'll follow whoever does! amyleepower**

"Have a good day," I called after my last customer.

It was such a beautiful day outside. Even though Miami's always warm, today felt especially welcoming. I started to organize the Sonic Boom shop counter when I heard my friend's very distinctive handshake from outside the store.

"What up?" Austin and Dez said unanimously as they entered.

They were laughing about something when I popped up from the ground. "Hey, guys," I said.

"Hey, Ally," Austin replied. "Ready to rehearse?" He smiled.

"Sorry," I began. "I can't yet. I'm working until like 7 tonight... But we could do it after!"

"Okay," he said. He and Dez walked over to the grand piano behind the counter and sat down.

Just then, Trish came in and announced, "Guess who got a job at Tim's Square Pizza?" Dressed as a giant square pizza, it wasn't hard to tell.

Before I could make a snide comment about this being her third job this week, Dez yelled, "Tim". That's the funny thing about Dez. He's quirky and utterly random. That's also the bad thing about Dez. He's utterly random. He has no brain-to-mouth filter. He's one of those people you have to love, though, no matter how much it hurts.

I laugh. "No, Dez," I say. "Trish." I walk over to her. "This is the third job this week, Trish." I smile. "When are you going to stick to one?"

She shrugs. "I don't know."

"Ally, I'm thinking our next song should be about escaping your fears," Austin says to me. "Because it's one thing to face your fears, another thing entirely to escape them."

I smile.

"Wouldn't that just be running away?" Trish asks.

Austin walks over to her. "No," he explains. "Because if you run away from what you're afraid of, you don't really face them. If you face them, only then can you truly release yourself from being afraid."

I walk over to the two of them. "I love that idea, Austin. Come by at 7, tonight."

"Okay," he enthuses. "Dez, let's go." Dez scurries along beside Austin and the partners in crime leave.

"Ally," Trish says. "Don't you think it's a little ironic that you're going to help Austin write a song about escaping your fears when the only time you've ever even faced your fears was at a Halloween party behind a mask?"

I sigh. "A little," I agree. "But it's still a good idea, and I know Austin will make the song come to life."

"I wonder what he's afraid of," Trish says quietly.

"I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

Around 6:50 I started to tidy up the store before closing time. I'm glad we close earlier on Saturdays because evening shifts are absolutely brutal during the week.

I scribble a few notes in my song book and I say goodnight to the final customer as I close the doors. I don't lock them, though, because Austin's on his way.

I'm sitting at the bench with my back to the door still writing away some rough ideas for Austin's song. _Chasing my fears is one thing, _I write. _But letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me. _I scribble a few more chords until suddenly-

"Boo!" Austin yells, jolting me off my seat.

"Austin," I yell. "How long have you been there?"

"About 2 seconds," he says with a laugh. "Here," he offers his hand to pull me up. I stand up and start walking towards the stairs that lead to the practise room. "Wait for me," he calls.

When we're all settled in to the room, I close the curtains. I really don't like the dark. I find it extremely oppressing. I turn on the overhead light as well as the standing light directly above the piano. I pull out the bench and my song book, then gesture for Austin to take a seat. I sit beside him.

"Okay," I say. "So I wrote a few lines and want your opinion." He nods. I play a single note to prompt my song. "_I know the struggle it is to be scared, I know how badly I want to believe, that some day I'll be free from my own fears, that I can let it all go and be so free. But chasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me._"

Austin stares at me. _Oh, no,_ I think, _did he hate it? _I swallow.

"Oh my gosh, Ally!" he exclaims. "That was incredible!"

"Really?" I ask, surprised by his reaction.

The smile on his face is huge when he wraps me up in his signature bear hug. I don't hold back and I hug him back. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it felt good, and I was so, _so_ cold. When he pulled back, his face turned from an expression of gratitude to one of concern.

"Ally," he said slowly. "Are you okay? Your lips are a little blue." He inched closer, looking frightened.

I nod slowly, touching my own lips to see if I could feel it. _Yeah, that makes sense, Ally,_ I say to myself. _Because you can actually feel the blue._ I mentally roll my eyes at myself. I reply, "yeah, just a little cold."

"Ally, it's 87 degrees outside. It isn't exactly chilly." He frantically searches the room for a blanket and finds one, folded, just behind recording table. He wraps me up in the soft, warm plush and he pulls the spin chair closer to me, gesturing me to make the switch from solid bench to comfy chair. I almost do it, but decide at the last second to stay where I am, suddenly afraid that if I move, I'll fall.

But I didn't want to scare him too much so I stood up to move. Immediately I felt my legs stop and I began to crumple to the ground. Luckily, I felt Austin catch me, but I didn't get the chance to thank him before I blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

I vaguely remember waking up and seeing panicked faces surrounding me. But that's it.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

When Ally crumpled, so did my world. That isn't to say that Ally is my whole world, but everything felt right until I noticed her lips, blue. I caught her, but I didn't save her. All wrapped up in her blanket, she almost looked like she was sleeping. Having a dream.

Having to alert Mr. Dawson was one of the most nerve-racking experiences ever. Having to leave Ally there, lying peacefully on the floor, it was horrible. But I couldn't stay there. My adrenaline was pumping and I knew that if I stayed, I'd pass out, too, from over-exertion. Then we'd both be in trouble.

Now I'm waiting at the hospital. But it's 2 am and we've been here for over 4 hours. I haven't heard anything, yet. Mr. Dawson is a mess. Dez is trying to flip through magazines, nonchalantly, but I can practically feel the tension radiating from his body. Trish's eyes are red and swollen from crying and being exhausted.

Me? I'm scared, I'm angry, I'm tired, I'm energized, I'm hungry, and I don't know how to deal with this. If Ally were here, she'd tell me to take a deep breath. To focus on what's important and to not let my emotions cloud my better judgement. But Ally isn't here and I can't focus and I can't breathe and I want to scream to the world and demand to know why it had to be Ally in the ER. Why it couldn't be me. Because I know she'd be scared but she'd handle it better than I ever will.

A single tear rolls down my cheek.

I squeeze Trish's hand before I get up and walk over to Mr. Dawson. He looks up at me and takes a deep, shaky breath. I sit down beside him and say nothing. I don't know what to say. _Ally, I need you_. I close my eyes and imagine all the good things I've been through because of Trish, Dez and Ally. Like getting signed to Star records, creating Austin Moon merchandise, my first accidental hit. My second hit. Interviews, magazines, video blogs. None of that would have been possible if it weren't for my best friends.

But now one of my friend's lives is in danger and I'm sitting here, helpless, crying.

_Ally, I need you._


	4. Chapter 4

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

It's so quiet. And dark. I can't tell if I'm awake or if I'm dreaming. But I'm happy. And scared.

My vision gradually becomes clearer and I'm watching clouds. _Hey, a moose._

Why am I watching clouds? Why aren't I writing that song with Austin in the practise room? Wasn't I doing that? What happened?

Then I remember – I _was _practising with Austin. I remember that I played for him the lyrics I had. I remember that he liked them. Then I was cold. He was scared. I was scared. Then I was here.

Am I alive?

_Of course you're alive, Ally,_ I think to myself. Well, good. But really, what am I doing here?

_C__hasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me._

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

6 AM. They're still doing tests. I'm so scared. I'm rigid and anxious.

Abruptly, I stand up and run outside for fresh air. I don't know how long I'm there, but I know I feel a little better.

A little while later, Dez comes outside to find me laying in the grass surrounding the building. He sits down beside me but doesn't look at me. "I'm scared, too," he says quietly. I look up at him. He continues, "she's my friend, too, Austin. I'm surprised you kept your head for this long. You should rest."

"I'm not sleeping until I know Ally's okay," I say sternly.

He nods. He looks up at the purple clouds evading the sunrise. We sit there, in silence for a good 45 minutes. I think I might have dozed off for a few of them, but I don't remember.

I hate the saying "You never know what you got until it's gone." I hate it because it's never not relevant. You appreciate something 1000 times more once it's gone. I hate that I didn't appreciate Ally enough.

Suddenly Trish comes barging out the doors. "Guys, c'mon, the doctors here!" she yells. I'm up and inside before I even realize it. Dez, Trish and I run in and find Mr. Dawson standing by the vending machines. He looks exhausted.

"Mr. Dawson!" Trish exclaimed. "Have they said anything yet?"

"No," he replies. "I told him to wait for you."

I nod, thankful.

We're waiting for the doctor or nurse or receptionist to come inform us of Ally's situation for what seems like forever. According to Dez it was only 4 minutes before the doctor, Dr. Holden, came.

He approached us and said quietly, "Ally's condition isn't one we experience on a regular basis. That's why it took us a while to examine, understand and diagnose."

I suck in my breath.

"She has to undergo surgery to help fix the problem, and because of this will have to be put in to a medically-induced coma for an extensive period of time," he says.

"How long?" I ask.

"Just long enough to go through the surgery and give her a suitable amount of recovery time. Recovery could be as little as a few days to as long as a couple months. Every case is different."

I turn and leave. I can't listen to this anymore.

I find myself back in Sonic Boom, sitting there wrapped in the blanket Ally was wearing. I sit there, legs crossed, in the corner, waiting to wake up from this nightmare.


	5. Chapter 5

I wake up the next morning to find Dez and Trish lying there, sprawled across the floor. I didn't realize that they came to me last night. I'm such a mess.

I look over at the piano. Where everything right, went wrong. Our song about escaping your fears corrupted from the irony. I can't escape my fear of losing Ally. What if the surgery goes wrong and she isn't okay? When can I see her? I need answers.

I stand up and make my way over to the piano and sit. I reread the lyrics she wrote for me. For us. "_I know the struggle it is to be scared, I know how badly I want to believe, that some day I'll be free from my own fears, that I can let it all go and be so free. But chasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me._"

But Ally's not with me. She's at the hospital, sick and cold. And I'm here. She's not with me and I'm not fine. Letting my fears go is beyond me when I didn't even know I was afraid to lose her.

I don't want to lose her. I _can't _lose her.

I start to cry again. I hear Trish stirring so I quickly and quietly leave the practise room and go downstairs to the store. I look around, reminiscing. I can almost hear Ally telling Dez and I for the first time, "No eating in the store". But I did anyway. I can hear her cheering for me at my first live performance. I can hear the way her voice cracked at my album release party when we played the slide show for her. If we couldn't let her leave then, how are we supposed to let her leave now.

All of the sudden I feel arms around me, and I look up to see Trish there, hugging me. I hug back. I can't do this anymore. I can't be strong. I can't be positive. I can't be me. There's no me without her. There's no Austin and Ally without Ally. There's just Austin. Just me. And I can't do it with just me.

A little while later I get phone call from Mr. Dawson.

"Austin," he says. "She's awake for now. They're prepping her for surgery in about 2 hours. Get down here." I hang up, tell Trish and run. Trish immediately runs to Dez.

Eventually we're there, waiting to be admitted. Mr. D comes out to greet us and quickly takes us to her room. The door's closed, so he whispers, "don't be abrupt. Don't startle her and try not to upset her. I know it's hard but try at the very least." We nod. He gestures for us to go in.

"You go in first," I say to Trish and Dez. "I want to go in last." They go in.

After what seems like an eternity, they come out, teary-eyed but happier. I brace myself and creep in.

"Austin?" Ally asks. I almost melt at her voice. I have to stop walking in order to stop myself from crying. "Austin? It's too dark, I can't see you. Are you there?"

I take a deep breath. "I'm here, Ally." I sit down beside her on the bed. I take her hand and squeeze it gently. We sit in silence for a while.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

I chuckle. "_You're _asking _me _if I'm okay? Ally, I'm not the one who was rushed to the ER."

"I know that," she laughs. "But you seem tense."

"Of course I'm tense."

"Why?"

"Ally!" I exclaim. "You were trembling cold in hot, summer weather. You fainted in my arms. I had to tell your dad you weren't okay, I waited for hours and hours just to find out if you were okay. I find out you need surgery. I'm trying my hardest to keep it together but I can't. I can't face my fears." My lips start to tremble.

"What fears can't you face?" she asks.

"The fear of losing you," I answer quietly.

She's quiet for a long moment. "I'm sorry I scared you," she says finally.

"There's no way I can make it without you."

"Do it without you."

"Be here without you."

"Exactly," I say. "I realized that I don't say thank you enough or tell you how much I love you enough and I'm sorry. I need you, Ally."

"You love me?" she asks.

I get up to leave and I kiss her forehead. "I love you."


	6. Chapter 6

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

Whoa. Austin loves me. Maybe he meant as a friend. Maybe he didn't. But all I know is I love him, too. He's silly, goofy, funny, adorable, kind and talented. He clearly cares about me. But I don't think I'm ready for anything like that.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Why did I just say that!? Why did I tell her I loved her? Did I do it because she might not make it? _No,_ she'll make it.

I realize that telling Ally I loved her was my fear. I was afraid to express my real emotions with Ally because I was afraid she'd leave or be freaked out.

But I feel better now that I told her.

_Ally, I love you._

_I love you. _

Wow, I'm shock with myself. Do I really love Ally? I mean, maybe. But I didn't even know I liked her. How is this going to affect her recovery?

I shake my head and walk back towards the waiting room. I tap Mr. Dawson's shoulder, almost like I was tagging him in to a wrestling match. I smile slightly and sit down in the chair. They're so comfy. I raise my forearms to my head and tilt it back to shield from the awful lighting.

I start to sing to myself quietly. "_I know the struggle it is to be scared, I know how badly I want to believe, that some day I'll be free from my own fears, that I can let it all go and be so free. But chasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me."_

I quickly doze off, able to rest easy now that I've spoken to Ally.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm so tired. _And cold,_ I think. I'm mostly just shocked still. I'm quietly ranting to myself when my dad walks in. It's getting darker outside, therefore darker in my room. I stifle a shiver so my dad doesn't think it's because I'm cold. I just really don't like the dark.

He sits beside me. "How are you doing," Dad says.

"You know," I say nonchalantly. "I've had better days." I laugh.

He chuckles. "You know you scared me. You scared us." I nod. "I think you scared Austin the most, Ally. If you weren't feeling well, why didn't you say anything," he asks softly.

"I thought I was fine, Dad, really," I say.

"You were cold in the dead of the summer."

"I know."

"Are you scared?"

"Are you?"

"Yes," he admits.

I take his hand. "I'll be okay, Dad. Promise."

He nods. We sit there in silence.


	7. Chapter 7

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

It's been two days. Ally's been in surgery all night, the doctors are tense. I'm tense. I'm trying to focus on playing Crazy Eights with Dez but we're both distracted. Trish is gone to quit her job at Tim's Square Pizza. To be honest, I'm surprised she lasted this long. It's been five days. I smile.

"I'll be right back," I say abruptly, startling Dez. I stand up.

"Okay," he says. "Oh, wait," he pulls out a dollar bill and hands it me. "Grab me a soda." I nod and leave.

I head over to the front doors where the row of vending machines sit. If Ally were here, she'd try to tell me not to eat so much. I laugh to myself. I pop a couple bills in the machine and buy 2 sodas, a bag of chips and a chocolate bar. Trish's favourite. I walk outside in to the crisp, morning air. I'm never awake at 7 am. But I've been awake before noon every day for the last few days, when I actually slept.

I kneel down and see a caterpillar. I pick it up and study it. _Ally's like a caterpillar_, I think to myself. She's a caterpillar with questionable health and stifled beauty. Then she goes in to surgery, wrapped in a blanket like a caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon. Then, after a while, she'll come out as beautiful, strong and healthy butterfly, better than ever.

I smile and put the caterpillar in the grass away from where people may walk. Protecting it like I want to protect Ally.

I head back inside to find Trish in my place, playing against Dez. They see me and look up at my smiling face, confused.

"Did you hear anything?" Trish asks.

"No," I answer.

"Then why are you happy?" Dez pipes in.

"Because I know Ally is going to be okay," I say confidently. From my peripheral, I think I see Mr. Dawson relax in his seat, almost like my words made him feel better.

I sit down and give Dez his soda and Trish her chocolate. I sit next to the table they're at and I try my hardest to distract all of us by adding unwanted commentary to their game.

I had them laughing soon and things started to look up.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

"I need the defibrillator," a doctor says.

"She's falling," someone yells.

I'm falling.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm still falling.

Wait, no I'm not. What?

I'm not falling. I'm lying on the hospital having an operation. I may be comatose but I know that much.

"Her heart rate is calming down," a doctor, says relieved. "Okay, move in to phase 4."

_Phase 4?_

Suddenly I'm not on the table anymore. Mentally, I mean. Obviously I'm still there, physically. But I'm suddenly I'm standing in a pale blue dress on the edge of a cliff, feeling the breeze blow past me, gently tousling my hair. I feel free. I hear distant laughter. I turn around and I see Trish, Dez and Austin at a park about 30 yards away. I watch them for a moment. Austin's on his guitar, running around the playground, singing. Trish is at the top of the climber, watching, laughing. Dez is... Dez is building a sandcastle. I'm watching, smiling.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

"Ha," Dez yells. "I win! Straight flush." He puts down his cards, organized in to what I assume a Straight Flush is in poker.

"This is stupid," Trish says, putting her cards down.

"Yeah," I agree. "We don't even know how to play this game, Dez." I think I had 2 pairs, but I don't know.

"Now, hold on," Mr. Dawson says. "Dez, I have a _royal flush_." He puts his cards down to reveal it.

"Dang it," Dez sighs.

Trish and I laugh. "I'll be right back," I tell them. "I'm going to get another drink."

"I'll come, too," Trish says, getting up.

I smile.

Once we're out of earshot, Trish says, "Austin, what happened when you went to see her?"

I'm confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she replies. "When I went in there before the surgery, she was kind of happy but scared at the same time, different from when Dez and I were in there." She inserts a bill in to the vending machine.

"Oh," I say. "I told her I loved her."

"You _what?!_"

"What, what's wrong?" I demand.

"Nothing," she says assuring me. "That's adorable."

I chuckle nervously.

"Did she tell you she liked you back?"

"What?" I yell.

"Oops," she looks around frantically. "Yeah, Ally likes you."

"For how long?"

"She just told before surgery. I think it just happened."

Wow. Ally likes me. What does all of this mean? "Oh," is all I say.

"C'mon," she says. We head back to Dez and Mr. Dawson.

When we get there we see them packing up the cards. "What's going on?" I ask.

"The doctor came out and said that the surgery is almost finished," Mr. Dawson says.

"And," Trish prompts. "Is she okay?"

He nods. "For now, at the very least."

Trish, Dez and I look at each other, somewhat relieved.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm still watching them. I envy their carefree lives. I smile. They look so happy.

I decide to go join them. But the second I move my feet, the cliff begins to crumble and I start to fall.

Again.


	9. Chapter 9

I was falling. I was waking up. I am so confused.

"Wait," someone says. "She's waking up."

"But we've only just finished surgery a few minutes ago."

"Was she conscious the whole time?"

"Ms. Dawson," my doctor says to me. "Can you hear me?"

My eyes are closed and my head hurts but I can hear him. I try to speak to no avail.

"Ms. Dawson?" He calls me again.

I try to nod my head. It works.

"She was awake?!"

"Darryl- out," the doctor calls. I vaguely remember his name being Dr. Holden. "And," he adds. "Don't go anywhere or tell anybody about this, yet."

I heard someone leave, presumably Darryl.

"Ms. Dawson," Dr Holden begins. "You need to find a way to tell me if you were conscious during the surgery." He gives me his hand. "Squeeze once for yes, twice for no." I squeeze once. He sighs. "Did you feel anything? Any pain? Once for yes, twice for no." I squeeze twice. He sighs again, this time sounding relieved. "Do you feel pain now?" Once. "Can you speak?" Twice. "Okay."

He continues to ask me a few more questions before he leaves and I feel a couple of people start to move me to something a lot comfier- a bed, I guess.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

We're sitting there, side by side in the waiting room chairs. Mr. Dawson, Trish, me, then Dez. I can't keep still. I'm so anxious.

"Dez," I begin. "Do you th-" I'm cut off by the sight of Mr. Holden approaching us.

"Mr. Dawson," he says. "Friends. As you know we just finished the surgery. Ally is supposed to be in a coma for a while."

"How long, do you think?" Mr. Dawson asks.

"Well," the doctor replies. "That's the thing. The injection wasn't strong enough to put her in a coma, apparently, something we have just found out ourselves. Soon after we finished and were cleaning everything up, we felt her stir as if she just woke up. To our knowledge, that was unheard of, but Ally did."

"What?" Mr. Dawson says.

"What does that mean?" I demand.

"It means," Dr. Holden says. "That Ally was conscious for every bit of the surgery. She was just very numb. For part of it I imagine she _did _sleep. But it was a voluntary sleep, not medically induced. She fell asleep and woke up on her own. She is awake now. However, we need to do some post-surgical surveillance to make sure everything is okay, so you can't see her yet. But I assure you I'll let you know what happens as it does."

"So Ally is going to be okay?" Trish asks.

"It appears so."

I sit down and put my head in my hands and weep. I'm so relieved and so happy. Dez pats my back and Trish comforts Mr. Dawson who is clearly relieved, too.

_Ally._

_Ally's okay._

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm okay. _I'm okay. _I sigh in relief.

I hear rustling in the room and I very slowly will my eyes to open. My vision's blurry but I see Dr. Holden.

"Doc-" I start to say. He whips around. "Doctor Holden?"

"Yes, Ms. Dawson?"

"Can I ask a favour?"


	10. Chapter 10

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Ally's gonna be okay and everything will go back to normal. She'll work at Sonic Boom, Trish will have another 500 hundred jobs, Dez will direct my videos and I'll go back to making music with Ally.

"Mr. Dawson," I say. "When do you think Ally will be let out?"

"I don't know, Austin. I'm just glad she's okay," he says.

I nod in agreement.

Then I have an idea. "Can I go to Sonic Boom for a bit?"

He looks at me. "Sure," he says and gives me the store keys. "You can go, too, if you want," he says to Trish and Dez.

"No, thanks, Mr. Dawson," Trish says politely.

"Thanks, Mr. Dawson!" Dez exclaims and jumps beside me.

"Thanks," I smile. We head back.

Once we're in Sonic Boom, I look around at the quiet room, where everything began. "I love it here," I say to Dez.

"Me too," he agrees happily.

"It's so quiet."

"I'll fix that!" And as Dez does, before you can stop him, he enters his own world of obnoxiousness. He picks up a set of drum sticks and crashes the drum set, causing wicked echoes throughout the once-quiet store.

"Dez!" I exclaim. "I like it quiet."

"Oh," he says. "Oops."

I chuckle and shake my head. "Let's go," I say to him, and head up the stairs to the practice room. My ears are still ringing. I scowl at Dez. "I want to finish the song for Ally for when she gets back."

"The one about fears?" Dez asks.

"Yeah," I reply.

For the next 2 hours I'm there with Dez, desperately trying to finish the song. "Argh," I moan. "I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Dez encourages. "Just remember why you wanted to finish it in the first place and let that guide you."

I nod. "You're right," I say. I start hitting keys and experimenting with notes. I write some lyrics down and when I'm done and happy with the product, I smile. "Finally."

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I feel so much better, but this extensive interrogation is a bit much. I don't know how many times I can tell a doctor that I was conscious for the surgery but I didn't feel a thing. I'm getting really frustrated.

Later, Dr. Holden told me that my plan is coming along great. My plan wasn't spectacular, but I wanted to be able to go home before any of my friends knew about it that way it would be a surprise. He said that my dad said my friends are kind of distracted with everything going on, they'd never expect it. He said it wasn't his first time he had a patient request this of him.

I'm honestly so glad I'm getting better. No one has told me what the actual problem with me was.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

When we get back to the hospital, Mr. Dawson tells us that her condition was literally caused by stress. Ally experienced so much stress from Sonic Boom, from me, from herself.

"The heart pumps the blood through our bodies. But begin so stressed, there was a lot of literal pressure on her heart. It couldn't pump the blood properly through her. Because of that, the lack of sufficient blood flow made her body internally cold. Because humans are warm-blooded, it affected her quickly. The reason she fainted was because as oxygen travels through blood, and there wasn't enough blood pumping through her veins, she suffered a deficiency to the brain. Blood travels more easily while the body is in a horizontal position. Basically, her body was trying to correct itself the whole time. She's going to be fine."


	11. Chapter 11

Dr. Holden said that Ally was going to be fine. I believed it before but after he explained it I knew it for sure. I've never been so happy. I love her so much.

But what's going to happen now? Are we going to go back to songwriting and performing like I never said it? She never even said she loved me back. I had to hear it from Trish.

I don't know what to do.

But I do know that I have time to think about it, thankfully. I smile.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm so tired. Even though I'm already recovering from everything, I still feel strong bouts of fatigue at the worst times. I planned on having Dr. Holden invite Trish, Austin and Dez in but I know I'm not strong enough, yet. I'm kind of paranoid, too, because I was told about my condition.

"What?!" I had yelled.

"Don't worry, Ms. Dawson," Mr. Holden had said. "I can assure you you're recovering quickly- much quicker than expected. Be proud." He smiled and left.

I'm relieved. I'm still kind of spooked about the dream-thing I had when I was semi-conscious, though. It was like watching a movie, but being in the movie.

Suddenly I get a chill. I start to panic because I think that maybe I'm about to faint again, but I notice the window open and I quietly get up to close it. It's also really dark outside. Not my thing.

By the time I fall asleep I've actually warmed up and forgotten about the dark. But my dreams aren't welcoming. I enter the dream world in Sonic Boom. I've just finished the night shift. My dad's gone and Austin and Trish just left. It's really dark outside and I feel chilly again. I have the strange sensation someone's watching me. I peer around, but find nothing. I take a deep breath. _This is just a dream_, I tell myself.

_Just a dream_.

_**Crash! Bang! Boom!**_

I scream. I hide underneath the piano.

_**Crash!**_

I scream again.

I'm screaming and screaming and I find myself being held down by Dr. Holden and my physiotherapist in the hospital room.

"Ms. Dawson!" Dr. Holden yells.

I'm still flailing.

"Ally!" the physiotherapist yells.

"Calm down," the doctor says. "Shh."

I start crying.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm awoken by the sudden stirring of medical assistance being directed to a room.

_It's Ally!_ I realize.

I tap everyone to wake them and start running towards the room.

"Austin!" I hear Ally calling.

"Ally!" I yell back.

"_Austin!_"


	12. Chapter 12

**__****I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'It's a Laugh! Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copy infringement not intended.**

"Austin, wait!" Mr. Dawson calls to me.

"I can't, sir," I call back, still making my way to her room. "She needs me!"

Mr. Dawson stops and stops Dez and Trish from coming, too. "You're right," I hear him mumble.

I barge through the door to her room and am immediately bombarded by the staff, ordering me to leave and it's against procedure for someone to come in. I try to stop them but I know it's no use. They're right. I don't want to make Ally's condition worse.

"Please," I hear her beg from behind the doctors trying to help her. I almost do it- I almost cry at the sound of her strained voice. "Austin," she cries. "Austin!"

"Let me through!" I shout. They reluctantly oblige and they move a little to let me to her. I ran to her and in a second she was in my arms, still crying, still hyperventilating. I stroke her hair, trying to soothe her. She begins to calm down a little.

The doctors must have understood that she's okay with me, because they one by one left the room, trying (but not succeeding) in looking casual. I started rubbing her shoulders. The friction between my hand and her cotton hospital gown started burning my hand really quickly, but at the same time it was calming.

"Shh," I whisper. "It's okay. Everything is okay."

"I had a horrible dream and it was so real."

I hugged her closer. "What was it about?"

She took a deep, shaky breath and said "I was being smothered my the darkness, and I thought someone was in Sonic Boom and I felt trapped."

I stopped. I took a deep breath. "It wasn't real, Ally," I try sound comforting. "Here," I say. I slowly get up, just long enough to open the curtains. The darkness and shadows are quickly gone, and from the room you can see the sunrise approaching.

I sit back down on the bed with her. She rests her head on my chest. "It's beautiful," she says, mesmerized by the sky.

"So are you," I say.

She looks up at me, her expression almost childlike, and says, "I love you."

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

He smiles and says "I love you, too, Ally," and kisses me.

**BOTH**

Then my world explodes.


	13. Chapter 13

**_I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'It's a Laugh! Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copy infringement not intended._**

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

It was really the most magical moment I've ever experienced. That includes releasing my album, performing, everything I've encountered ever. It was the kind of story you write songs about. I wonder if I could write a song about it myself.

I chuckle nervously. What do I do, now?

She looked at me, looking frightened and happy and beautiful all at once. I take my thumb and gently wiped the remaining tear from her cheek and kiss the spot lightly. I don't know what I'm doing. It feels like some other being has control over my body. I push her hair back, so lightly a saw her shiver. It was adorable. I laugh.

She smiles and turns and rests her head on my chest again. We sit like that for a while. Eventually she falls asleep in my arms. I feel like I could I stay like this forever. I think I fall asleep, too, because the next moment I'm truly aware of, Trish and Dez are sitting in chairs adjacent from us, quietly bickering. The sun is also a little higher and the sky is bluer now instead of purple.

"Hey," I whisper to them. They immediately shut up and look at me.

Trish makes the biggest grin and she high-fives Dez. They look so happy. Initially, I don't understand why but I then I realize: Ally and I. We're sitting in the same position we were – I check my watch – 3 hours ago. I'm stiff, but I don't want to move.

"Way to go, buddy." Dez says.

"Does this mean you're officially a couple, now?" Trish asks.

I don't know, does it? Maybe. "I don't know, yet," I admit.

Trish rolls her eyes. She looks at Ally suddenly, then takes Dez's hand and bolts from the room.

What?

Then I feel Ally start to move and understand why she left. Privacy.

"Mmhm," she grumbles. She continues to snore softly.

I chuckle. I think that woke her up, though. Oops.

"Austin?" she murmurs.

"Right here, Ally," I reply. "Right here."

She looks up at me with sleepy eyes and smiles. "Tired?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say. "But probably no where near as bad as you." I smile.

"I'm pretty tired, yeah," she laughs.

"Then go back to sleep."

"I don't want to," she says. "I want to stay up with you."

I smile, but say, "We have forever, you know."

"But I want forever to start today."

"Well," interrupts Dr. Holden. "How does tomorrow sound? You can go home, then."

_She can come home tomorrow!_

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

_I can go home today!_

"Okay!" I enthuse. I wink at him and he laughs. I don't think Austin notices. Dr. Holden leaves.

"You can come home tomorrow, Ally!" Austin almost sings it.

"I know, I'm so excited."

We sit in silence for a while and everything comes rushing back.

The kiss. Wow. It was really the most magical moment I've ever experienced. That includes helping Austin release his album, performing, everything I've encountered ever. It was the kind of story you write songs about. I wonder if I could write a song about it.

I've never felt so light before. So free and capable of anything. He makes me feel like I can take on the world. When did I start liking him?

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

When did I start liking her?

I squeeze her tight and kiss her head. I love her so much.

She filled a void in my heart I never knew was there.

"I was so scared," I say. "That I was going to lose you."

"I know," she replies. "Me, too."

**BOTH**

_I know the struggle it is to be scared, I know how badly I want to believe, that some day I'll be free from my own fears, that I can let it all go and be so free. But chasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me. _


	14. Chapter 14

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

We're saying goodbye to Ally. Since it's her last day at the hospital until tomorrow, we want her to get lots of rest.

Mr. Dawson tells us he needs to stop at the dollar store near Sonic Boom first, so we wait in the car while he's inside.

"I have a plan," I tell Trish and Dez. "I've finished the song Ally and I were writing, so I'm going to serenade her when she comes home." I grin.

"That's a great idea, Austin," Trish says. "She'll love it."

I nod. "I hope so."

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm so excited that I get to go home today. And everyone will be so surprised. I smile. I start to pack my bag. I've been here for a while. It's time to sleep in my own bed.

And face my feelings with Austin. I grumble.

I don't know what he'll say when I'm actually out. Will his feelings change? I don't know. I hope not.

Let's do this.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

"_I know the struggle it is to be scared, I know how badly I want to believe, that some day I'll be free from my own fears, that I can let it all go and be so free. But chasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me. Losing you was the fear, the thing that I wanted to shake, without you I'm far too fragile, and I know if I fall I will break. I know the struggle it is to be scared, I know how badly I want to believe, that some day I'll be free from my own fears, that I can let it all go and be so free. So free, so free, to be, to be, in love, in love, with youuuuu."_

I take a deep breath. "So what do you think?" I say to Dez and Trish once I'm done.

Trish stands up and says, "Wow, Austin!"

Dez says, "Good job, buddy."

We're laughing when Mr. Dawson knocks on the door. "Guys," he says. "Come downstairs."

Confused, we get up and leave the practise room. When truck down the stairs and I'm immediately looking in to Ally's eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm looking in to Austin's shocked eyes when I run close, wrap my arms around him and plant a kiss on his lips.

**BOTH**

It was like falling in love all over again.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

When I pulled away, I had the pleasure of seeing his face, longing for me again but still so, so confused. I laughed.

"You're home!" Austin exclaims, happily.

He opens his arms to indicate a hug but Trish beats him to it and hugs me first. I laugh and hug her back. Austin laughs and awkwardly stands there.

"I'll hug you, man," Dez says and hugs Austin. They laugh.

Once out of Trish's arms, I walked in to Austin's arms.

I still don't know what to do about our feelings for each other but for now, this is good. I smile in to his chest. He's so tall but it's okay.

We stand there for a while.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

She's so small and fragile. _Like the song,_ I think to myself. That reminds me that I can't sing to her now. At least not yet.

I squeeze her tighter. "I'm glad you're home," I whisper. She squeezes back and I can feel her smile.

"Okay, my turn," Mr. Dawson says to us. I laugh and let Ally go. She smiles and turns to her father and hugs him tight.

I rest my elbow on Dez's shoulder and hug Trish's shoulders. Team Austin is back.

A couple hours later, the four of us are in the practise room, sitting together, eating some pizza and singing some songs. We'll, _I'm _singing. Trish is lecturing Ally about her utter lack of respect towards herself and her body.

I say, "You do realize that it's because she's stressed, right? You shouldn't hassle her." I laugh.

"It's okay," Ally says. "She's right. I should have taken care of myself better."

"No," I disagree. "It's not your fault you've been so stressed, Ally. Part of it was mine and I'm sorry."

She smiles and is about to say something but Dez says, "I'm sorry, too."

"Why are you sorry?" Trish asks.

"I have no idea, I just like apologizing!" he replies.

Ally rolls her eyes and I laugh.

"We should play spin the bottle!" Trish suggests.

"Okay!" I agree.

"I don't know, Trish."

"C'mon, Ally, please?" Trish begs.

"Ugh, fine."

"Yay, Dez you in?" she asks.

"Yeah," Dez says with a mouthful of pizza.

"Okay," she starts. "The rules are simple. No matter who the bottle points to, _you have to kiss that person._ Or else... or else you have to do the entire Sonic Boom inventory." She winks at Ally.

"Deal," Ally says.

"Okay, Austin, you're up," she says.

"Okay." I spin the bottle. _Land on Ally, land on Ally._

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

_Land on me, land on me._

The bottle finally stops and points to me and Austin grins largely. He leans over to me and pecks me on the lips. He sits back.

**BOTH**

_Ha!_

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW.**

"Okay, Dez," I say. "You're turn."

He takes the bottle and spins it.


	16. Chapter 16

The bottle stops and lands on...

TRISH.

He quickly looks at her and looks away.

"No way," she says. "Nuh uh." She waves her hands in front of her.

"But Trish," I said snidely. "You have to unless you want to do inventory with me."

"I don't care!" she insists.

Dez is sitting there, awkwardly exchanging looks with Austin who's trying not to burst out laughing.

"Really," I ask. "You don't care?"

"...ugh fine." Trish resigns.

"Kiss her, Dez," Austin says.

So Dez awkwardly scooches closer to Trish and plants a quick kiss on her lips. He immediately backs off, away from Trish, who is sitting there with her face puckered, not reacting.

**BOTH**

_Oh my._

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I jump up to shield Dez from Trish's inevitable wrath. But she just sits there.

I see Ally inch closer to Trish.

All of the sudden Trish starts going red. But she isn't angry. She's... blushing?

"I'm done," she says. "This game is stupid anyway. I'm going to bed." She gets up and scurries off out of the practise room. Ally chases after her.

"Dez!" I yell. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," he replies.

"Was is good or weird?" I ask.

"I don't know," he admits. "It was my first kiss and it was quick and a dare. I don't really know."

I nod. "I understand."

He picks up another slice of pizza.

I grab one too, and we eat in silence.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

"Trish," I call after her. "Trish, wait."

She stops and turns around. "What," she demands. "Ally, I don't want to talk."

"Trish, I know you're confused," I say.

"I'm not confused, Ally," she shouts. "I'm angry that I always have to come up with stupid ideas and cause trouble and I can't hold a job and I'm not very nice to people and I don't know why I'm so bad." She sits on the bench by the doors.

"Trish," I soothe. "You can't think bad about yourself because of silly ideas. It isn't a big deal. And so what if you've had like 30 jobs?"

"35," she corrects me.

"Okay, so 35. Having plenty of jobs doesn't equate to a bad person. But I know you're frustrated about the kiss with Dez."

"Of course I'm frustrated. Dez is my friend. That shouldn't have happened."

"There were only three of us, you know there would have been a chance. Who do you expect him to land on? Me?"

She laughs. "To be honest I'd thought it'd land on Austin so he'd chicken out and have to help you with Sonic Boom and he could spend time with you."

"Awe, Trish," I say. "You're a good friend." I hug her. "But he did kiss you. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."


	17. Chapter 17

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm still kind of confused about Dez and Trish but I have to focus on seeing Ally for lunch today. I'm getting dressed and I can't decide between white jeans with a purple top and white vest, or black jeans with a white tank and blue dress shirt over it.

I contemplate for a few moments and finally decide on the black jeans with a white tank and blue dress shirt. After I get dressed, I brush my teeth and brush my hair with a swift shake at the end so it looks appropriately messy. I put on my high tops and grab my wallet to leave.

I'm on my way there and stop periodically in the mall mirrors to make sure I look okay.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm really nervous. Getting dressed while nervous is such a hassle. I decide on my pale orange silk shirt my mom sent me from Africa because I know that orange is Austin's favourite colour. I put on a pair of white skinny jeans because I assume Austin's wearing black and I don't want to awkwardly look the same. I brush my hair out after it's dry from the highlighting it again and I put on a little mascara like every morning. My teeth are already brushed and I search my closet for shoes, settling on white sandals.

I hope this goes well.

I walk out of the practise room and run downstairs do tidy up before I leave.

As I'm cleaning the counter I straighten up to fix the kink in my back and turn around, face-slamming Austin's chest. I stumble backwards and he catches me. He smiles.

He ever-so-softly moves a strand of hair from my face and looks at me with longing eyes. I laugh and hug him.

"You like nice," I say, smiling.

"Thank you," he replies. "So do you. I love orange on you." He grabs my hand and spins me around. Suddenly we're dancing to no music, but I love it. I'm laughing and trying to catch me breath. He spins me once more and I almost spin into the counter but I brace myself and stop. "Whoops," he says. "Sorry, you ok?"

"Yeah," I assure him, I didn't hit anything.

He smiles and says "good".

"Where do you want to eat," I ask him. "There are so many places."

"Let's go where we always go," he says. "You can have a hamburger with pickles on it and I'll some pancakes with extra syrup." He grins.

"Okay," I agree, excited.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

We're sitting there together at a small, 2-person table, eating and talking and laughing.

_She's so pretty, _I think to myself. I can't believe it took me so long to realize I liked her. Loved her, even. I mentally scold myself.

But this is nice, and it's better late than never.

"Yeah," she said. "So that's how my dad bought Sonic Boom." I laugh. I was paying attention, honest. Up until that last thought. But she was telling me about why they own Sonic Boom when it was initially opened in 1913. Apparently when she was little she told her dad that she wanted to work at a music store with instruments and when he was a little sick he went to a seminar on how to open a store. Eventually, he accidentally bought a timeshare in the store and paid it off. It worked out well in the long run, but that's where the magic began and all its glory.

"I'm glad he did," I say, still laughing.

"Me, too," she agrees.

We continue eating in silence. But not the awkward silence thing you get in school. Silence you get as a couple while you sit and appreciate each other's company. I look at her eyes while she's looking out at the view of Miami. I get lost there, I think, because I eventually spill maple syrup on my shirt. Oops. "Agh," I groan. I start wiping it off and she laughs as she hands me her extra napkins.

As we're cleaning me up, we hear it at the same time: Trish and Dez, about 20 yards away, laughing together.


	18. Chapter 18

**I'd like to quickly thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favourited **_Austin & Ally: Fears and Fatalities_** thus far. Please continue offering your input! I'd like your opinion on Trez via Private Message, as well as Auslly. Should I end the story soon or keep it going for a while? Let me know! :) So thank you once again and I look forward to your messages.**

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I am honestly so shocked to see Dez and Trish together. They actually look like they're having a good time. Dez appears as though he accidentally took one of Trish's fries instead of his own and she smacks his hand. He looks down, confused, and then laughs after he realizes.

"I'm so confused," I say to Ally.

She nods in agreement. "I know, right."

They stand up suddenly. We freeze simultaneously even though we both know they can't see us. They hug and head off in separate directions. We relax in our chairs but look at eachother.

"Weird," we say at once.

Later, as we're coming back to Sonic Boom, Ally stops and says, "thanks for lunch," and smiles.

"No problem," I reply. I kiss her on the cheek and say "see you later." I leave.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

Every time he kisses me it takes my breath away. I smile (and probably blush).

I settled back in to Sonic Boom and after I finished helping a customer purchase a clarinet, Trish walks in.

"Hey, Ally," she says. "What's up?"

"Not much," I reply. I wonder if she'll tell me about her and Dez. "I went out to lunch with Austin today."

She smiles. "Ally, that's great. I went out for lunch today, too."

Hmm. "Oh, where'd you go?"

"Lisa's Luncheon," she says, nonchalant.

Exactly where we went. A lunch place with breakfast and dinner specials. "Oh," I say. "Us, too." I eye her suspiciously.

"Oh," she says nervously. "I, uh, didn't see you."

"How could you," I say. "When your eyes were all over Dez?"

"What!?"

"I saw you two. _We _saw you two. Sharing fries and laughing."

"Ally, I-"

"I don't care, Trish," I assure her. "But I wish you would have told me." I rest my hand on her shoulder. "How was it?"

She laughs. "Oh, Ally, how long you got?"

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm stopped by a few fans on my way through the mall. I take pictures with them and talk for a few minutes. I politely dismiss myself when I see Dez paying too much attention to a caterpillar.

I walk up and yell, "Boo!"

He turns around. "Oh, hey Austin," he says. "Look at this caterpillar!"

"What? You just.. But I... Ugh," I say, a bit dismayed.

"What?" he asks, confused.

"I just tried to scare you and you didn't even flinch."

"Austin, I knew you were there," he says, triumphantly. "I saw you're shadow, anyway." He laughs at me, the way Dez does.

I sigh and laugh. "So, Dez," I start. "What was going on with you and Trish, earlier?"

He continues playing with the caterpillar. "Nothing," he says finally. "We were just talking about what happened the other day. It was weird, we were trying to get over it."

"So you're not even going to try being with her?"

"No," he says. "I don't think I like her that way. And if I do, well I don't at the moment. I don't know anything about relationships, Austin. I'm not about to jump at the opportunity to."

"Alright, well, whatever," I say. "Good luck, man." I head home.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

"So, basically," Trish says. "I'm never playing Spin the Bottle again." I laugh.

"So," I say. "You two went to lunch to talk about... you know, and you decided to stay friends?"

She nods. "Yep," she says with a yawn. "It's gonna be easy, Ally. I don't like him that way and he doesn't like me that way." She grins. "So how about you and Austin?" she nudges me and winks.

"What about us," I ask, nonchalant, to irritate her.

"Are you officially a couple," she demands. "Or no? Spill!"

"I don't know, maybe. Today was kinda like a date and he kissed me on the cheek before he left. He probably doesn't want to rush anything." I start to tidy the store before closing.

"So I guess your condition had a silver lining after all," she says.

"Yeah, I guess." I smile.

I mean, maybe. Because yeah it solidified Austin's feelings for me and mine for him, but did it mess up everything for his career?

"You okay?" Trish asks, interrupting my thoughts.

I look over at her worried expression and laugh. "Yeah," I reply. "I'm just a little concerned about how this not-a-relationship-relationship is going to affect the four of us as friends and Austin and I as partners." I close the doors and call to the last customer to have a good evening. "What about that song we were writing before hand. The one about chasing your fears and escaping the reality of them. I don't know if we're even going to publish it."

"I wouldn't worry too much, Ally," Trish says. "But here's some advice- don't faint again." She laughs and I stick my tongue out to make a _pfft _noise.

_I know the struggle it is to be scared, I know how badly I want to believe, that some day I'll be free from my own fears, that I can let it all go and be so free. But chasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me. I don't have a clue where to start, but, I know I'll be fine if you're with me._

Will I be free from my fears?


	19. Chapter 19

One of the things I'm most afraid of is being surrounded by darkness. I don't know why. In fact, it's something that never bothered me when I was younger. But it really scares me to be in the dark, now. When I was in the hospital and I had that dream, everything got worse. I haven't had a good dream since that night, aside from the dream I had in Austin's arms. I blush a little.

It's 8 o' clock. Austin and Dez are supposed to come by tonight so we can watch movies. My dad's gone to a wedding in Denver for the weekend. I hope he was actually invited to that one. I laugh to myself. Austin said he had a surprise for me, too, but wasn't giving it to me until after the movies and before we all go to sleep.

I'm rearranging the living room for us while I make snacks because it's pretty small with only my dad and I living there. In the kitchen, there are chips, cookies, pickles – I snicker – and soda. I have taco stuff in the cupboard. I'm sure Dez will want me to make some.

I hear a knock at the door. I quickly wipe my hands and run to answer the door. When I open it, all three of my quirky friends are grinning at me, holding their bags. I smile back.

"Hey, Ally," Trish greets me. "Ready for a fun night?"

"Of course," I say, excited.

"Hey, Ally," Austin says.

"Hey, Austin. Hey, Dez."

"Hey, Ally, you got food?" Dez asks.

I laugh. "In the kitchen."

I give Austin a quick hug and before we even finish we hear Trish and Dez arguing in my kitchen. I sigh and step away from Austin's embrace and make my way to find them. When we get to the doorway, we see them fighting over which chips to open.

"Salt and vinegar!" Trish yells.

"No, sour cream and onion!" Dez yells back.

Austin and I look at each other and laugh. Even if they're not meant to be together, I think they're meant to always be friends. Their love/hate relationship is fun to watch. I step in. "Guys," I say. " You can open both bags and eat them individually if you want. I bought loads." I walk past them to a cupboard and open it, revealing about a dozen bags and other snacks.

I think their worlds both stop spinning at the exact moment they see it because their mouths drop open at the exact same time. I laugh.

Austin's mouth drops, too, and says, "Whoa, check out the taco kit! Ally, are you gonna make tacos?"

"_Tacos?!_" Dez exclaims.

"I can," I laugh. "You want them now? Or later?"

"Now," Austin, Dez and even Trish say unanimously.

"Okay, pick a movie while I start the meat."

Trish and Dez both run out of the kitchen at the same time, I imagine so one can pick the movie before the other. I roll my eyes. Austin come up behind me and says, "You look cute in an apron," and flicks flour at me. I flinch. No way was I not going to retaliate. I flick some back and cover the container before he could dig in again. I eye him wickedly. He licks his lips and jumps towards me, knocking me off balance as I try to avoid him. I fall and laugh. My clothes and face covered in flour. I then have an evil idea.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Ally tries to get up by reaching for the counter but falls as she's standing. She lets an "oomf" when she hits the ground.

"I think I twisted my ankle," she says.

"Oh no," I gasp. I help her up. Once she's on her feet I say, "Ally I'm sorry. Try to walk."

So I let her go and when I do she walks with ease around the kitchen island. Before I realize what's actually going on, she reaches _the _container and in one swift movement, opens it and flicks so much of the flour at me I yell, foolishly. She starts laughing so hard and it's so cute I forgive her immediately.

She turns to stir the meat, still laughing. I'm laughing, too and I open her fridge to pull the vegetables and cheese out for the tacos.

"Hard shell or soft shell," she asks once she's calmed down.

"Hard shell," I respond quickly. "Otherwise it's just a fajita."

She starts laughing again and says, "You're right." She gives me seven shells. "Here. Get yours and Dez's ready. I'll do mine and Trish's. We both know they're both going to want four each, at least. We can have three to start. I also have ice cream in the freezer."

"Great," I say happily. I peer in to the living room and see them still arguing over movies. I laugh. Ally looks in and laughs, too. In all seven shells I arrange the tacos. Lettuce, tomatoes, meat, cheese, salsa, sour cream. I then add extra cheese to mine and extra salsa to Dez's. Ally does the same thing but instead adds extra tomatoes to Trish's. We grab soda from the fridge, take our plates and head in to Ally's living room.

Dez and Trish are still fighting. Like old times, I think to myself.

"Pick a movie," Ally shouts at them both while she hands Trish her plate. I give Dez his.

"I want to watch _Zombieland_," Trish says.

"But _I_ want to watch _28 Days Later_," Dez says.

I roll my eyes. Let's not watch either, I think to myself.

"How about we watch _Jurassic Park_," Ally suggests.

"Good idea," I enthuse.

Dez and Trish look at each other, shrug, and at once say, "Okay."

Once the movie is, Dez curls up in my recliner, Trish on the floor in a duvet, Ally on one side of the loveseat, and I'm on the other.

Part way through the movie, Ally looks at me and smiles, but jumps when at the horrific shrieks of the dinosaur in the movie.

She drops half a taco on the floor and I help her pick it up. She's laughing.

This is one of the best nights of my life.


	20. Chapter 20

After the movie is over it's 1 am. I'm really full, Trish stretches from being so stiff and Dez is still staring at the screen with a glazed look in his eye. Ally's sleeping and you can hear this _very_ delicate snore coming from her direction. I laugh quietly.

Trish looks over at me, then to Ally and laughs, too.

"Austin," Dez whispers with a mouthful of food. "When are you gonna sing the song?"

"Song?" Trish asks, curious.

"Yeah," I reply, stifling a yawn. "I'm gonna sing to her. She wants up anyway. She said that if she fell asleep during the movie to wake her up. I didn't notice until now but I still could."

"How, though?"

"Erm," I say. "Well let's clean up, first. Then I could wake her up by actually singing it."

"Okay," Trish smiles.

So Trish and I start to quietly bring the dishes to Ally's kitchen and load them in to the dishwasher. Dez, I guess, thinks he's the dishwasher because he gets mad every time we walk by with food we don't give him. "Dude, there's more not half-eaten food," I say.

We're almost done and Dez is putting in another movie, one that Trish and him both could actually agree on, and mutes the TV as to not startle Ally awake. Trish is fixing her sleeping area, being the queen she is. I roll my eyes and chuckle. I'm in the kitchen, quietly strumming, getting the chords memorized to be certain. The lights flicker.

Trish comes in when everything is ready. "Okay, it's a go," she tells me.

I get up and I go to chair adjacent to Ally.

_My fears, before, have never been so real. _

Ally opens her eyes, dazed.

_The dreams I have will never go away._

She smiles in recognition of the song. She sits up to listen.

_The strength I had is slipping from my reach._

_I'll never put to good use what I say._

_I know the struggle it is to be scared, _

_I know how badly I want to believe,_

_that some day I'll be free from my own fears,_

_that I can let it all go and be so free. _

_But chasing my fears is one thing, and letting them go is beyond me._

_I don't have a clue where to start, but, _

_I know I'll be fine if you're with me._

_My fears have me stuck in a moment._

_Where everything said causes pain._

_I'm running from all that has happened._

_I'm running from all that are sane._

_I don't deserve what I have in the moment._

_I'm to lose everything I've had._

_I separate my thoughts from the others._

_I try to not see myself so bad._

_I know the struggle it is to be scared,_

_I know how badly I want to believe,_

_that some day I'll be free from my own fears,_

_that I can let it all go and be so free._

_But chasing my fears is one thing,_

_and letting them go is beyond me._

_I don't have a clue where to start, but,_

_I know I'll be fine if you're with me._

_You're with me more than I realize._

_You've loved me for far too long._

_I know that I don't deserve you,_

_but without you my world's so wrong._

_Chasing my fears is one thing,_

_and letting them go is beyond me._

_I don't have a clue where to start, but,_

_I know I'll be fine if you're with me._

_Chasing my fears is one thing,_

_and letting them go is beyond me._

_I don't have a clue where to start, but,_

_I know I'll be fine if you're with me._

As I strum the last chord to the song, I see Ally tearing up. A tear rolls down her cheek and she stands up to hug me.

As she does, the lights flicker again. Weird.

I set down the guitar and I hug her again. The lights actually turn off and stay out and once she realizes she tenses and clutches my shirt.

"Austin," she quietly says, scared. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I say, honestly. "Probably just a power surge." Dez sighs. I assume he's frustrated at the TV, off, but I can't tell.

Ally is still holding me. I forgot she was afraid of the dark.

Trish says calmly, "goodnight," and settles in to her air mattress.

I walk Ally to the couch and sit with her. Dez is evidently already asleep without warning.

Ally sits with her head on my shoulder and tries to calm her breathing. I rub her shoulder, comforting her. I pull the blanket over us and we sit there in silence in the dark.

"I loved the song, Austin," she says after a while. "Let's not publish it, though."

"I was thinking the same thing," I say and kiss the top of her head."

We quickly fall asleep but are woken up soon later.

_**Crash!**_


	21. Chapter 21

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I jump up, absolutely startled, with Austin right behind me, wrapping me in the blanket for protection. I hate the darkness. I'm so scared.

Trish wakes up. "C'mon, you guys," she moans. "I was hardly asleep."

"We didn't do anything," I cry.

She stands up and stretches. Dez wakes up, too.

They yawn simultaneously.

"What was that," Austin asks.

"I don't know." I feel weak-kneed and I sit myself down so I don't collapse.

Dez walks around the table to stand beside Trish and I but suddenly-

**creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaa ak-SMASH!**

He falls through my floor.

"Dez!" we all yell at once. His like is more than half-way through my floor and he is sitting there silently. Is he conscious?

"Ow," he whispers quietly.

I jump from Austin's hold and say, "we need light," and signal for Austin to join me in the kitchen. He follows and we're both in there, frantically searching for flashlights, candles, matches, anything that will help us see better.

Just as I think I see a match, the lights come back on and I sigh in relief. I rush to the linen closet by the bathroom and grab the first aid kit, towels, and my phone in case we need to rush him to the hospital.

As we get back in to the living room, we see Trish trying to slowly and carefully help Dez out of the hole. Austin runs to her side and starts to pull him, too, while I try to direct them around the sharp edges of the floorboards.

"A little left," I say. Then right. Then left. Then a little more right.

Once they get his leg out, I quickly wrap a towel around his leg to stop the bleeding.

"It looks a little tight," Austin says.

"Is it too tight, Dez," I ask. No response. We all look to see him unconscious. "Shoot," I say.

Trish gets down and tries to wake him up. "Dez," she coos. "Dez, get up."

"Check his pulse," I instruct. I'm glad I took a first aid course in the seventh grade.

Austin does and feels one immediately. "Now what?"

"Check to make sure he hasn't hit his head. Trish, come and hold this cloth right here and don't move it."

I start to wipe the excess blood from his leg. Luckily, it didn't get on anything else. I put some cream on Dez's open wounds that weren't covered by the cloth. Finally, I put on a numbing cream. Soon after, Dez starts to come to.

"Dez!" Austin sighs in relief.

Trish starts to cry of happiness.

I sit back and take a deep breath and relax, relieved.

"What happened," Dez asks, confused.

"You fell through Ally's floor," Trish answers.

"Oh," Dez responds. "Ow."

"Are you in pain," I asked, concerned.

"No," he replies. "Just the thought is painful." He adjusts himself. "Can we watch the movie now?"

We laugh. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital to get it checked out? I'm not a doctor," I say.

"Nah," he says. "It doesn't hurt."

"Well I'm still gonna call and ask about how to treat it. Start the movie." I walk in to the kitchen with my phone and dial the non-emergency line.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I put the movie in and Trish settles on one side of Dez. I settle on the other. I make sure I'm close enough to the kit in case.

I see Dez starting to doze again and nudge him awake. "Do you want to go to sleep," I ask. "I can move you somewhere comfortable."

"No," he says. "I want to watch the movie, I'm just a little drained from you know, falling through a house." He laughs.

Trish has already fallen asleep, her head kind of resting on Dez's shoulder. I roll my eyes. They're clearly meant for each other.

Ally comes back in and sits beside me. "Okay," she says. "We're good. I called and asked if it was something urgent. They asked if he was still bleeding, and he isn't. She said that we should at least take you to the clinic tomorrow, Dez."

"Fine," he says. "Thanks, Ally."

"No problem."


	22. Chapter 22

_****__**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

While Trish and Ally were cleaning up in the morning, I was trying to get Dez packed and ready while he sat on the couch, trying to console his mother and convince her he was okay. She insisted on picking him us up and taking us all there, but we agreed to let her take him alone. Instead, we would wait for a phone call about Dez's accidents so we knew when to visit. Ally still felt bad for keeping us all at the hospital for us so was willing to wait for Dez, but we came to this arrangement.

Earlier this morning, Ally had called Mr. Dawson to explain what had happened with the floor. He wasn't angry like I thought he'd be. In fact, he was sympathetic for Dez and had said, "I knew we should have replaced that floor years ago." He also couldn't stress enough for us to be careful around the hole, and suggested putting something over it to block it. We settled on moving the recliner there. Mr. Dawson also called me personally and asked me to keep this quiet from Ally.

"Austin," he had said. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," I replied, confused.

"I need you to really watch Ally. By that I mean try to never make the room too dark, as she's been afraid of total darkness for years. I also need you to make sure she knows she is not at fault for the floor, because if I know my daughter – and I do – she'll try to make it her fault. It's her only flaw, trying to accept the blame for things she didn't do... I also need you to love her."

I was speechless. I managed to spit out, "I do love her, Mr. Dawson."

"I know," he had said quietly. "And I'm glad you do. But I need her to know it. I'm not telling you to say, 'I love you' to her every 5 minutes, but make sure she realizes it. And Austin?"

"Yes, sir?"

"She loves you, too, don't forget that." He said goodbye and hung up. Wow.

I peer over at Ally. She's sweeping the floor and talking to Trish. Trish is laughing. Dez is sleeping quietly with his foot propped up on a pillow now that his mom is done freaking out over the phone. Trish gets up and heads to the washroom. I stand up and walk up behind Ally and hug her. At first she's startled but quickly melts in to my arms.

"I love you," I say.

She turns around and smiles. "I love you, too," she replies. I lean down and kiss her, ever so gently on her soft lips. She wraps her arms around my neck and we stand there, intertwined, for what seems like an eternity. When I pull back, her face is flushed and she's averting her eyes. I laugh and lift her chin and kiss her again.

She giggles in the middle of it and I pull back, laughing again.

We sit down on the couch. She leans in to me, I rest my head on hers, and we just sit there.

Trish comes out of the washroom and sees us and says, "get a room," jokingly.

Ally sticks her tongue out at her and laughs.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

It such a perfect moment, even with Trish there making snide comments. He held me like I was a small child he was trying to protect. I loved it.

Suddenly, everyone jumps at the sound of frantic banging at the door. I quickly get up and open it. In comes Dez's mother, Darla, immediately looking for and finding Dez, asleep.

"Oh, my baby!" she cries. She wakes him up and has him lean on her as she directs him out the door.

"Bye, guys," Dez calls back.

"Call us," I yell over Darla's tears.

I sit back down with Austin on the couch and Trish puts _Mean Girls _on the DVD player. We all settle in and we find ourselves marathoning movies all morning to afternoon. I'm glad it's a holiday weekend and Sonic Boom is closed.

I wake up later on the couch, without Austin, under a really warm blanket. Trish is still awake – I think – in front of the TV, watching a different movie I can't place a name to. I can't see Austin anywhere.

"Where's Austin," I ask Trish.

"In the kitchen, I think," she replies, never taking her eyes of the screen.

I get up to go find him. I see him out on the porch, strumming away on his guitar. I smile. I open the door and he looks over at me and continues singing his first song, the one I inadvertently helped him with. I sit across from him on my porch swing. I put myself in a ball and lean on my knees, rocking rhythmically to the song.

It's so calm, so tranquil, so pretty outside. It's dusk, now. I'll probably be up all night. _Great, _I think sarcastically at myself. I see a caterpillar crawling on the column of the house. I put my finger to it and let it crawl on. I look at it closely while Austin plays. I love caterpillars because they truly grasp how beautiful something is even before it goes through metamorphosis. It crawls up my sweater and I use my finger to keep moving it. Austin stops playing for a while and I can feel his gaze on me. I look up to see him eyeing the caterpillar.

What is he thinking?

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

This caterpillar looks like the one I found outside the hospital, when I made the connection between it and Ally. I smile. I watch them for a few moments and I continue playing, but a different song.


	23. Chapter 23

Later on, I'm sitting in the rocking chair on the porch, watching the view. I'm really bored but really content at the same time. Ally is still sitting in the same position she was an hour ago, curled up in a ball with her head on her knees. I think she's sleeping.

I get a text and my whole pocket vibrates.

**BZZZ. BZZZ.**

I look to see it's from Dez.

_Hey, _it says. _The checked out my leg and said I'll need a cast for about a month. After that I'll need physiotherapy to help me with the stiffness. Then I'll be as good as new._

I text back. _Good, _I say. _Are you going home or should we come see you?_

_I'm on my way back to Ally's. U still there?_

_Yeah._

_Good. See you soon._

I put my phone away and go to find Trish. She's asleep, too. Jeez, everyone's so tired. I go back outside and sit very gently next to Ally so not to disturb her. The swing rocks a little more and I worry she might fall but she doesn't. I close my eyes and sleep.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

In my dream, everything is serene. But my dreams keep shifting and morphing to different things, revolving around one key aspect: Austin.

The last image my dream morphs is the park from before. Austin is still playing guitar, singing, laughing, Trish and Dez are still being foolish. I'm still at the edge of the cliff. It seems taller. The bottom is dark and disturbing.

I defy my fears and once I make the movement to go to the others, everything changes. I feel happier. But my happiness doesn't stop the cliff from crumbling beneath me again. I start to fall.

I scream.

I shout.

I call for Austin.

As I'm forced to let go of the cliff, I start to fall. But suddenly Austin is there, holding my hand to pull me up. I feel relaxed at the sight of him. But the cliff keeps crumbling and he falls, too. I fall, he falls, we fall in to the pit of darkness at the bottom.

I wake up to Austin yelling and me flailing. I fly off the porch swing and on to the ground. Ouch. I look up to see Austin grabbing his hair and freaking out, too. I guess he was also having a bad dream. I try to wake him and his eyes open with a jolt. He immediately grabs me and pulls me in to a bear hug. It takes my breath away and he's squeezing so hard. I don't think he's really awake, yet, but I try to pull away anyway.

It takes a few moments but I manage and he's sitting there, staring at the wall with closed fists. I gently sit beside him.

"You okay," I asked, concerned.

He looks at me, still disoriented, and says, "no. I had an awful dream."

"Me, too," I reply. "What was yours about?"

"You were on a cliff," he starts. "You fell. I tried to grab you and pull you up, but I fell, too, and I couldn't save you." His voice is shaky.

_He dreamt my dream._


	24. Chapter 24

_****__**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

The blood rushes from Ally's face. She looks petrified. I'm a little confused.

"Hey," I say. "Are you okay?"

She shakes her head and swallows. "No," she replies. "I'm not. Austin, that's the exact same dream I had, except from my point of view. It's the same one I woke up screaming about at the hospital. But this time there was darkness at the bottom..." Her voice cracks at the last word. She trembles.

I pull her close. "What does it mean," I ask, concerned. "Why are you scared of the darkness?" I recall the conversation I have with Mr. Dawson, where he asks me to make sure she's okay and never in complete darkness.

She says nothing.

"Ally?"

She looks at me and takes a deep breath. "It's something that has stuck with me since elementary school," she begins. "My dad had always turned out my light before bed up until I was 9. I knew in my mind that I was getting a little old for it, him treating me like I was 5. I told him he didn't have to turn out my light or tuck me in. I was 9 for crying out loud. So he respected my wishes. But the first night I said goodnight and went to bed on my own, a drunk driver crashed in to my house and through my bedroom only."

She takes another deep breath and continues. "I heard the squeaking of the tires outside and got up to see what it was, only to be bombarded my oncoming headlights. I ducked down on my ground as the car shot through my wall. The car landed partly on my bed, but I was stuck underneath it. I was surrounded by total darkness, a blaring car horn, exhaust from the engine and the blistering cold."

She takes a sideways glance at me and stops. My mouth is gaping open. My lip trembles a little so she reaches up to touch my cheek. I lean down and kiss her, almost like I was protecting her from the memory of that night.

She returns my kiss.

"Were you okay?" I ask finally.

She gets quiet and says, "physically, I guess. I needed 4 stitches near my shoulder blade-" she points in the direction of her left shoulder - "and 1 in the back of my head. I'm okay now. But mentally, I haven't been okay, since. Just recently these dreams have occurred, though. I don't know why you had the dream, though."

I don't know why, either.

"What are you afraid of," she asks. "That might trigger the dream."

I contemplate for a moment. "I'm scared of losing Dez, Trish and... well, you. I can't lose you, I don't think I'd survive."

She smiles a small, wonderful smile. "Remember," she starts. "When I found you and Dez in Sonic Boom trying to make a deal with me about the instruments?" She laughs.

I smile, remembering. "Yeah," I answer. "Then I accidentally stole your song and made it a hit." I bow my head for a moment. "You know I'll not be sorry for that."

She puts her hand on my back and leans on my shoulder. "And you know I forgave you almost right away."

"I know. But I still feel bad."

"Austin, you or I would never be where we are today without each other. You'd never have a big hit, I'd never have two amazing new people in my life. I wouldn't have grown to be what I am. You make me a better person."

I turn to kiss her forehead. I know this. I know that I'd never be Austin Moon: Internet sensation without Ally. "It doesn't make me any less sorry," I smile.

She laughs lightly.

We hear the door and head inside to let Dez in. He's walking on his own, but his cast looks awfully heavy.

"Whoa," I say. "Can I sign it?"

"That's why I brought _Sharpies_," he exclaims. He tosses the brand new, unopened pack at me and finds a seat on the couch by Trish. She looks up at him, rolls her eyes and turns her focus back to her movie.

Ally laughs and sits beside Trish on the floor.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I think I was sitting there for about 10 seconds before my phone chimed. I get up to answer it.

"Hello?" I say in to it.

"_Ally, it's me,_" my dad says.

"Hey dad."

"_I'm on my way home."_

"Why are you whispering?"

"_I'm on the plane and there's someone sleeping beside me._"

"Oh," I reply.

"_Can you go to Sonic Boom for me and just check up on it? When I get home tonight I'll sleep there so I can get it opened early tomorrow._"

"Sure, Dad. Get home safe. Love you."

"_Love you, too._"

I say goodbye and hang up. I look over at Austin scribbling all over Dez's cast, Dez doing the same. I laugh quietly.

Austin looks up. "What's up," he asks.

"Nothing," I reply. "My dad just wants me to check on the store before he gets home tonight."

"Okay," he says and stands up. "I'll come with you."

I look down at Trish. "Can you play nice while we're gone?"

She looks up, confused. "What? Oh, yeah. Whatever."

I roll my eyes and toss her a couple markers. "Here," I say. "Draw on Dez's cast. But _only _his cast," I emphasize.

Austin grabs our coats and we leave.

We walk in silence. At one point he takes my hand, but I don't really remember when. The electricity between us was enough to keep me quiet.

When we get to Sonic Boom, Austin notices first something weird. "Why is the light on," he asks.

I look down at door to find the locked picked.

Someone broke in to Sonic Boom.


	25. Chapter 25

_**I received my first negative review today; it was bound to happen eventually. I will still write for those who enjoy it. As for my 'unoriginal idea' I'd like you to know that everything I write I create by myself. The only thing unoriginal is the idea of Auslly and Trez, the relationships between characters and the existence of Sonic Boom. If there happens to be another FanFiction story with a similar plot, story, idea or theme, I want to assure the readers and the author that I haven't read it. I'm sure it's a wonderful story. All the lyrics I post are mine, not those of **__Kevin and Heath Productions __**or **__Disney__**. Not everyone has to like my story. Thank you to those who do.**_

** __****DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Immediately, I'm worried.

I see Ally trying to not be so scared, but she's peering around to see if anyone can see us. I get closer and put my arm around he waist in case she needs the support. I look inside and can't see anyone.

"I'm scared," Ally whispers.

"Me, too," I admit. I quietly push the door open and step in. Ally follows suit, but I keep her guarded behind me. We both are being very cautious not to trip on anything or make noise.

We suddenly hear bustling in the back and we duck in front of the store counter. She's breathing heavily, Ally, from being nervous, so I gently cover her mouth. She slowly breathes through her nose and once I think she's calmed down I let go. She takes a deep breath.

I peer from beside the counter at the back room. I see two people talking to each other, none of them recognizable. One comes out and I lean back. I hear him go upstairs to the practise room. The other is walking in our direction, so I signal to Ally to quietly shuffle in my direction.

He walks out the front door.

"Ally," I whisper. She looks at me. "Does the back door lock from the inside?"

She thinks for a moment and says, "yeah."

Good. I nod. I look over to the door to see the guy is gone, and I peer around the counter to check for the other and he isn't there, either.

I take a calculated risk because there could be more than two people. I hope for the best, squeeze Ally's hand and we run for the back, quickly and quietly.

Once inside I close the door silently and once it's locked, we back towards the nearest wall.

It's pitch black in the room and Ally is starting to hyperventilate. I turn on my phone to give some light, but I'm smart enough to make sure there are boxes in front to shield the light from anyone outside looking in. I rub Ally's back to calm her down and I text Dez and Trish both to make sure it's received.

_Sonic Boom was broken in to, _I text. _We locked ourselves in the back room of the store but there are still people here. We can't call the police. We need you to. DO NOT come here unless you're with a cop, it isn't safe. Please be quick._

I hit send, silence my phone, and hold it close to my chest. We sit there for a moment. We hear someone outside, one of the guys, and it sounds like he's blaming the other for locking the door. The other is apologizing and saying he doesn't recall even closing it.

A text from Trish comes in. _OMG, we called. They're on their way, now. Is Ally ok, too?_

I look at Ally who's reading the text. She looks at me and nods in affirmation. I text back _yes. Thnx, Trish._

_Be safe, _she replies.

So we wait. And wait. And wait.

All of this bad stuff happening is getting ridiculous. None of us deserve this. I take Ally's hand and hold it tight.

Then I remember. Mr. Dawson.


	26. Chapter 26

_**I'd like to thank all of my readers so far, who have been encouraging me endlessly to keep writing. I will aim for about 4 chapters posted this weekend, but as it is Easter, we'll see. I hope you will continue to enjoy my story as I enjoy writing. Have a good weekend! :)**_

"Oh no," I whisper.

"What," she whispered back.

"Your dad," I say. "When is he coming home?"

She freezes. "Uh," she starts. She looks to her watch. "His plane lands in about an hour. I hope everything is good on time..." She starts to chew her hair in that Ally way.

I take her hand and hold it.

We sit like that for a few minutes.

Then suddenly I hear stirring outside. Then a large _**crash **_that jolts Ally. I quickly and stealthily cover her mouth with my hand to stop her inevitable scream. She grabs my arm and holds it, trying so hard to calm down. There's still loud sounds and bangs coming from outside the door and at one point the knob is rattled like the robber was trying to escape his situation.

Ally hides her face and I hold her tight.

After about 15 minutes, all is calm. I debate whether we should leave or not but I can't bring myself to move no matter what I wanted. Ally is still hyperventilating in to my chest. I'm still stunned.

Then suddenly, in the most calming voice, we hear someone call, "Austin? Ally?" quietly. Ally hears, too, because she turns her head to the door. We stand up at once and creep towards the door.

The voice calls to us again and Ally realizes who it is. "Trish," she whispers.

I nod and start to slowly open the door. The lights are on, the police are there and Trish is looking around near the stairs. We see the robbers, still masked, cuffed by the door. A policeman notices us and hurries towards us.

We're immediately bombarded with questions.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

The police, along with two more run towards us and offer us water and a place to sit. Austin is trying to assure them we're fine but I guess my face doesn't convince them because they still ask me.

I try to nod to them when they ask if I'm okay. That I'm just in shock that my store was burglarized. I mean only once before has that ever happened. But this time it was a team and it was worse.

"Who are the criminals," Austin asks the officer.

He said that he wanted to wait until the entire place was clear until he revealed them.

Trish runs towards me and hugs me. She was evidently worried.

So we wait. And wait. After what seems like forever we're cleared and we're brought to stand in front of the robbers.

They pull of the masks to reveal two guys.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Trent and Dex.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

Trent and Dex?

Whoa. What?

"Trent," Trish yells. "_You _were the thief?"

"No," he replies. "I'm not technically a thief, we didn't steal anything."

"Yeah, because _that _would work in a court of law," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Trent," Austin says. "Why would you try to steal from Sonic Boom?"

"Didn't you," Trent responds with an overly cocky expression.

"No?"

"He asked if he just pay me later for them, like a tab," I defend Austin.

"Same difference."

"No," a police officer says. "It isn't." He tightens the cuffs on Trent and starts directing him out of the store.

Dez looks at Dex and sighs sadly. He walks away and Dex bows his head in shame.

I'm so confused.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm so confused. "Why does Trent hate me," I ask Ally. "I never did anything to him except kick him out of the dance group when he used Trish.

I see Trent standing outside with Dex and an officer. He looks at me, then to Ally, and eyes her suspiciously. She sees and shudders.

"Creep," she says. She walks over behind the counter, trips an alarm and is suddenly up in the air in the confinements of a booby-trapped net. She screams and tries to rip the net. We're all there, suddenly trying to get her down.

She's freaking out despite everyone's pleas for her to stop. Eventually she rips the net and falls in to arms of myself and Dez. We put her down and she's in the embrace of me, Dez, and Trish, who, until this moment has been silent about the Trent thing.

"I hate that guy," she mumbles.

"Hey!" we hear an officer yell. "Where are they? They're gone!"

**ALLY'S POINT OG**

They ran away1?


	27. Chapter 27

_****__**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

I'm so worried. I cannot believe Trent broke in to the store and escaped police custody. I'm clinging to Austin's arm like a 5 year old, but I can't help it. I'm afraid that if I let go, something worse will happen. In all fairness he's holding on to me pretty tightly, too. I don't mind, though, clearly.

Dez is still mad about Dex, but Trish is trying to reassure him that he only did it because of Trent and he probably didn't want to at all.

Austin redirects my attention to the register and gestures me to open it to make sure Trent didn't take any money. So I do. I mentally calculate the amount of money that was in there 2 nights ago and count the current total. Nothing is missing.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Austin rubs my shoulder. I close the register and I gently remove myself from his hold. "I'm gonna go talk to one of the officers," I say.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I nod. I take a deep breath and lean on the counter. What a day. The officers say their goodbyes to the rest of us and tell Ally they need to do a follow-up report tomorrow.

"We need you to come to the station tomorrow," one says. "Is 1 okay?"

"Yeah," she replies. "Of course."

I turn the main lights off while Ally says goodbye. She closes the door and locks it. I walk over to her and wrap her up in a big hug, never wanting to let go. Trish and Dez are sitting by the window, talking.

"It's going to be okay," I soothe.

"What's going to happen with Trent, though," Trish wonders. "I mean, the police didn't exactly try very hard to catch them."

"I don't know," I admit. "But I think we should all go home and rest and think about it in the morning."

Everyone nods in agreement. Ally's cell rings and I jog up the stairs to turn out the lights.

Once I'm done, I slide back down the railing and stick the landing. I laugh. "Who is that?" I whisper to Trish. She shrugs.

Ally says goodbye and closes her phone. "It was my dad," she explains. "He was just letting me know that his plane is being diverted to North Carolina due to a really bad storm in Arkansas. He won't be home until tomorrow. Late afternoon, probably. I told him about the storm. He's so mad. Not at us of course," she says reassuringly. "I told him to come straight home tomorrow and not Sonic Boom, just in case."

I nod and she puts her phone away. Trish and Dez stand by front door to the store, waiting for us. Ally turns off the last light and after we're out, locks Sonic Boom.

We head back to her house.

"Really," Ally says once we get her driveway. "You didn't think to turn any of my lights off?" She laughs.

"No," Trish says defensively. "You were stuck in a closet with robbers, Ally, the last thing I worried about was whether the lights were on or off. In fact," she says as we approach her door. "I probably didn't even shut the movie off."

I roll my eyes. We hear the menu music playing repetitively on the screen once we're inside. "See?" she says.

Once we're all settled back in the living room, Ally resigns and lets Dez and I watch _Bikini Beach Blood Bash. _She sits on the floor with Trish with a few bottles of nail polish and magazines.

About an hour later, at the boring part of the movie, I peel my eyes away from the TV to Ally and Trish. Trish is asleep and I can see Ally getting there. She looks determined to finish her nails, though. I chuckle quietly.

It isn't long until the movie is over and Dez turns out the TV. We fall asleep quickly.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

The last thing I remember is being gagged and lifted out of my house and in to what I presume is the trunk of a car. I'm flailing and trying to scream but the cloth is pulled too tightly around my head. Everything's so dark.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I awaken to Trish screaming and rambling profusely with a reckless disregard of her whereabouts as she knocks into anything an everything.

"Trish," I say.

She ignores me.

"TRISH!"

She stops pacing and bumping and rambling.

"What's wrong?"

"Ally is missing!"

_What. _"_What do you mean she's missing?_"

"I mean, the door was open, Ally's not here and she was clearly dragged!"

I jump up and shove Dez to wake him up. I pull out my phone and call 9-1-1.

"_9-1-1, what's your emergency?_" the woman says.

"My friend was kidnapped from her house while we were all asleep," I cry.

"_Kidnapped? Sir, have you checked everywhere?_"

"Yes," I yell. "It looks like someone was dragged."

I give the woman a few more details. Then she says, "_I am dispatching a search and rescue unit to your location. Stay there._" I hang up.

Then an awful idea invades my thoughts.

_Trent._


	28. Chapter 28

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I don't remember anything but darkness.

They vague sounds of creaking, doors, the rough grain of the rope knotted around my wrists. The blood on my forehead. The blood that irritated me so much because I couldn't wipe it. It just trickled, very delicately and very slowly don't the side of my forehead. I'm very grateful to be sitting on a chair because if I was laying down I'm sure I'd never be able to stand.

I try to imagine where I am. I don't even know who took me. I'm trying to stay calm. I'm a lot calmer in my head than I actually am. I'm painfully aware of my rigid breathing and short breaths. I feel the remains of tears streaked down my face. I feel the blindfold over my eyes. Strangely enough, I can still tell it's dark wherever I am with it on.

All I want is to get out of here.

I try to manoeuvre my hands in the ropes to no avail. They're secure. I'm so small.

I decide to pretend I'm fearless. "Hey!" I shout at the darkness.

No one responds.

"_Hey!_"

"Ally, be quiet," a voice coos. I jump at the sound. "Stop fighting the ropes. Stop calling to people. There's no one here. Austin and Trish and Dez aren't here. They don't care about you."

Who is that?

"Who are you," I ask.

"You know who I am."

...Trent? Oh no. "Trent, is that you?"

"See?" he replies. "You knew who it was."

"Why am I here, Trent? What do you want?" I demand.

"Me-_ow_. You're a little cranky, Ally. That's not like you."

"TRENT!" I'm so angry and scared.

"Shut up, Ally. You're giving me a headache. You want to know why you're here? Why I took you? Well here's why." He drags a chair across the floor, giving me chills, and sits right in front of my face, so close I can feel his breath on my skin. "I know your friends will jump at the opportunity to save you. So instead of money, this ransom calls for Austin to back out of his career to come to your rescue. Even if I don't become the next sensation, Austin will be out. In fact, he's lucky I didn't take him and just let him starve in here. This is much more fun."

I feel like I'm going to vomit. I make the indicative sounds and he immediately backs up and pushes my chair forward, just enough for me to throw up on the floor and not my clothes.

"Why Sonic Boom?" I demand in between vomit breaths.

"Well," he chuckles. "I can't go out and buy instruments now that I'm on the Most Wanted list in Miami." He opens a nearby door. "Sleep well, Ally," he says and leaves.

Suddenly, I feel a smelly cloth covering my mouth. I feel dizzy. It must be chloroform. As Dex opens the door to leave, I hear him whisper, "Sorry."

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Mr. Dawson is pacing and crying and yelling inside the house. Poor guy, just got home. I'm outside answering questions for the police. I don't really get why they came here when Ally was kidnapped here, but I wouldn't question it.

"I woke up to Trish yelling," I say for the umpteenth time. "She told me Ally was gone and looked like she was dragged outside. I'm just angry that I didn't hear it."

"Mr. Moon," the officer says. "What were you doing last night?"

I look at him like he's stupid. "Sonic Boom (her family's store) was broken in to last night. We were there. Weren't you there?"

"I have to ask these questions, Mr. Moon." He scribbles in his note pad.

"Well we went back to her place after because we were too afraid to stay at the store after Trent and Dex got away. That's why we think it's them."

"It's too early to tell tight now, but we'll look in to it," he assures me. He steps inside and leaves me there on the porch, collecting my thoughts and hating everything. I look over to see a caterpillar on the railing. Just crawling around. I look at it a little longer.

Why do caterpillars always show up when something happens to Ally?

I realize they've always shown up before the situation gets better, but this one I have a feeling will get worse first.

I pick up the caterpillar and put it on the soft bed of grass below the bushes outside her house. Protecting it from danger.

_Please be okay, Ally_.


	29. Chapter 29

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I wake with a jolt. I'm in the darkness still. Still in the ropes, still blindfolded. I quietly weep.

I hear someone come in.

"No more drugs," I say. "I don't need to be knocked out. I'm evidently not going anywhere."

No response. The door opens and closes again.

I'm torn. I don't know if I want Austin to find me because then he gives up his music. If he doesn't find me, I'm dead and he still might give up his career. I don't want this to ruin his life.

I'm chilly. I must be underground. There's no way a room can stay this exact temperature for hours without additional help.

I feel the sweat on the back of my neck just sitting there. I feel the cold of my hands longing for warmth. I just want Austin to hold me and tell me everything will be okay.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

The three of us are sitting in the police station interrogation room with an officer, silently taking notes about the case.

Suddenly, my phone buzzes, indicating an incoming call.

Everyone looks at me expectantly, including the officer. I ignore the number because there's no ID.

The phone buzzes again.

"Speaker," is all the officer says.

I nod and press the button. "Hello," I say in to the phone.

"_Austin. There's only one way to get Ally back,_" the voice says. "_You must give up your career as a pop star. You shouldn't even have a career. Your music is terrible, your voice is squeaky and the lyrics are so unoriginal. I did the world a favour by taking her._"

The officer looks very confused and thoughtful. He scribbles a few words and shows me. I nod and follow his directions.

"Trent," I say. "Where is Ally?"

"_Were you listening to a word I said,_" he replies. "_I took her. You're not having her back unless you give up your career._"

"How would go about doing that? I exist, therefore my music does." The officer writes more and shows me. "Is Ally safe," I ask Trent.

"_Safe enough._"

"I can't give up my career anymore than you can stop breathing, Trent."

"_Find a way_," is all he says before the tone goes dead.

"_UGH._" I slam my hands on the table, startling Trish and Dez. They look completely lost in space.

"I may be able to have our technical analyst trace the call," the officer says. He stands up and dismisses himself from the room. I wish I knew his name to thank him.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

Someone – presumably Trent – busts through the door and starts untying my legs and arms from the chair. He makes sure he immediately reties the knots to keep my limbs together, though, so I don't escape. Not that I'd be able to. My legs are jelly, my arms have been numb for a good 45 minutes, Trent is much bigger than me and I don't know where we are anyway. I can tell there's a small light in the room but it wouldn't help me navigate anywhere.

Another pair of hands grabs my legs. Trent and Dex (I guess) start bringing my through the door and down a long hallway. My blindfold slips slightly from it intital position and I try to remember certain details about the hallway for later. The soft, yellow lights, the unfinished walls, the narrowness. I try to wiggle my way out of their grasp.

"Oomph," I grunt.

"Stop, Ally," Trent says, tiredly. He tightens his grasp on me. His forearms are holding my upright on my underarms instead of just holding my arms and letting my head flop like I thought he would have.

"Trent," I say. "Let me go."

"Austin isn't ready to give up his career, yet, so no."

He spoke to Austin? I guess I'm a little upset that Austin didn't give in right away for me, but relieved, too, because his career is important.

They pull my in to a different room and put my on a bed. They take my blindfold off and I squint at the light. They take the ropes off and Dex puts a tray of food on the side table. He leaves, making sure Trent doesn't see his sad expression.

"You'll be living here for a while," Trent explains. "Clothes in there, food will be given to you twice a day. No windows, but there's a light switch. Paper and a pen. Have fun." He eyes me wickedly. "Bye," he says before he closes the door and locks it.

Great. Just _great_.

_**How would you guys feel about a crossover with **_**Criminal Minds**_** for a couple chapters? Yay or **__**nay? Put answers in review box. Majority rules. If I get more yes's than no's by tomorrow night, I will. If I get more no's than yes's then I won't. Only for a couple chapters anyway. To aid in the **_**investigation**_**... Let me know! :)**_


	30. Chapter 30

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS | DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN **

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

It's the eighth day since Ally's abduction. I don't know why it's so hard to find Trent. How far could he go, really?

Trish set up an interview with me with _Panther Beat_, a popular magazine that almost every teenager in Florida reads. At first I was extremely frustrated because I can't even think about interviews at a time like this. Why would she think I could? I reamed on her. But she explained to me that this is a way to make Trent pay. He's always wanted to be famous. So now he'll be famous for being on Miami's _Most Wanted _list. We spoke to the police about it, first, though. After some consideration, they agreed to let me speak to the interviewer, provided they would be present. _Panther Beat_ didn't get why at first, but agreed nevertheless.

Usually Ally helps me get ready, but due to her absence, Trish had to help this time. But we were all distracted to the point we didn't realize the buttons on my shirt were crooked until **just **before the reporter was there.

The officer and I left the practice room and went downstairs to greet her.

"Hey," I say, shaking her hand. "I'm Austin Moon."

She smiles. "Nicole," she replies. "Now, Austin, I'm looking forward to this interview. In fact, your manager said this might be an interview that should be live. Should I be excited?"

"Well, uh," I stammer. "It's definitely something you won't be expecting," I admit.

"Ooh," she enthuses. She turns to the camera and says, "Get comfortable, America."

"America," I ask. "I thought it was only in Florida?" I'm worried.

"Well, our live interviews are broadcast throughout the country. Canada and the UK get the reruns."

Wow. So over 410 million people will hear about Trent. Then even more because of the way news travel over the 'net. I guess that's good. "Okay," is all I say.

She points to the benches by the door. "Can we sit here," she asks.

"Sure," I say. We sit down. I turn to see Mr. Dawson selling a guitar. I'm amazed he's kept it together. I haven't.

"So, Austin," Nicole says. "I hear you're working on a new song with your songwrite, Ally Dawson."

"No, actually," I reply. "It's been scrapped." I lied, but it was our song and I wasn't letting it go.

"Oh," she mumbles. "Well tell us about what's going on, then." She smiles.

Here goes nothing.

"Well, I want to talk about Trent."

"Trent?" she asks, confused.

"Oh, T-Fame," I clarify. "The guy who I supposedly had a long-standing feud with."

"Oh," she enthuses. "What about him? Has the heat been turned up?"

"Well, actually, the heat has turned up, but I'm at a simmer and he boiled over."

She chuckles. "What do you mean?"

I take a deep breath. "If you take a look behind me," I gesture to my friends. "You'll see 2 of the 3 other members of Team Austin. Dez – my cameraman and director. And Trish – my manager. However, who you don't see is Ally – my songwriter and best friend." _Girlfriend_.

"Well, where is she?" Nicole wonders.

"Trent, erh, T-Fame, I mean."

"What about him?"

I turn and look directly in to the camera. "Sonic Boom was broken in to 8 days ago. Trent and his friend, Dex were the burglars. They managed to escape police custody while the officers were doing a final sweep of the area. Once we were back at Ally's house – the four of us – we fell asleep. In thr morning we wake up to Ally's empty bed, her front door open and very evident signs of struggle on her part. We didn't know who took her but our only assumption was Trent." Nicole's eyes are wide. "Trent contacted me later and demanded I stop singing as a career in exchange for Ally back. He didn't deny it was him when we asked. So it's been 8 days since I've had Ally with me. I wanted America to know that Trent isn't just the '_Crybaby of the Week_', but he's also _Criminal of the Year _in my book. I need your help to stop him."

Nicole is frantically scribbling down in her notepad. The camera guy is staring at me in shock.

"So that's what I wanted you to know," I finish.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I've probably been crying and screaming for a good 3 hours. I don't know how long I've been here, because despite what he said, Trent's meal times have been inconsistent. I dug a tiny hole in the wall with my pen but that's all that's been keeping me somewhat sane. I need to see Austin, Trish and Dez. I just want to crawl up in Austin's arms and sleep forever.


	31. Chapter 31

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

**So I got too many comments asking for no crossovers. No problem:) I won't.**

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

The response from the audience was incredible. People were calling Sonic Boom demanding to know more about the situation. Mr. Dawson was having a hard time keeping up with the calls. Dez and Trish were helping, but about 20 calls were coming in every 45 seconds. People were pouring in to Sonic Boom to talk to me and Nicole. The police were letting in few people at a time so we could explain.

Nicole says to me, "You're not joking, are you." Her voice was grave, knowing.

I shake my head. "No. Ally was actually kidnapped by Trent. He's one of the most wanted people in Miami right now."

She shakes her head. "Why does he want you to give up your career?"

"Well remember when he and I were on the _Wanda Watson Show_?" She nods. "Well like I tried to explain to my fans, he was phony. He came in to where Ally and I record our songs and took the CD we just finished with. We hadn't released it, yet, so we couldn't prove it. He got a friend named Dex, a parody name of my friend, Dez." I nod to Dez. "He took our handshake. He took my TV appearance. He took our song, he tried to take over my life. But after his embarrassing experience on the show, he gave up." I shake my head.

"I can't believe this. I see what you mean when you said that I wouldn't forget this interview."

"I'm sorry it wasn't what you hoped for, but it was important."

"I understand," she nods.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I feel ill. Malnourished. Lonely. I just want to see everyone. Austin.

I hear a very faint sound coming from one of the corners of the room. I look up to see a caterpillar coming from a hole. I jump up to catch it in case it falls.

It does and I do.

I sit back down where I stood and gently caress the shaken caterpillar. It's so adorable. They don't have very pretty faces but the colours they have are gorgeous.

Almost like the caterpillar awakened something in me, I suddenly feel awake and faithful that everything will be okay.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW **

We just finished a global news segment. The calls were down to a couple every 10 minutes. Mr. Dawson closed the store at an officer's request. He said that with everyone knowing about Trent, it will be easier to find him. He can't hide forever, and now that everyone knows, he won't even be able to buy butter without someone recognizing him and alerting the nearest police station.

I feel a little better but I'm still extremely tense. I need to know Ally's alive.

My phone rings. I see the caller ID. It says _Trent_. The number is unknown but I saved it to my phone so I'd know it if was him again. I call everyone over and before I answer it, the technical analyst does her thing and starts the software to trace the call.

Once ready, I answer the phone. "Trent," is all I say.

"Austin," he replies. "You ready to give up, yet?"

"Never."

"Really?" he says, surprised. "Maybe you'd reconsider if you saw a picture of how Ally looked right now."

"What do you mean, Trent," I demand.

"Well, she isn't looking too good. Her hair's a mess, her faces is stained from her tears. Awh. And you don't care," he says in a sadistic tone.

"Shut up, Trent."

"No, really, it's horrible. I took a picture just last night when she was sleeping on the floor. She's been biting her lips, too. They look like they were bleeding at one point."

I swallow down my anger. I want to kill this guy.

"Show me the picture," I demand.

"Okay!" He says this with heavy sarcastic excitement. He hangs up.

"Was that enough," I ask the girl. "For you to trace it?"

"I think so," she replies. She's frantically clicking and typing and muttering. We're all watching her computer with absolute fascination as well as confusion because we evidently have no idea what she's doing.

My phone buzzes. On my screen, a box pops up saying _Trent: one attachment. _I signal everyone to get close, except Mr. Dawson because he might not want to see.

A horrible picture shows up and Trish runs from the circle to vomit.

"Make sure she's okay," I instruct Dez. He nods and runs after her.

I want to burst in to tears and tear Trent in half at the same time. The picture shows Ally curled up in a ball on the floor of an ominous room. She's sleeping. Her lips are very red, from what I assume is dry blood and she has bruises around her wrists and ankles. Her hair is as Trent said, matted. She looks like she's in so much pain. She's thinner. She looks more tired. She doesn't know that a picture of her was taken.

"If we can't figure this out," I say to everyone. "I'll give up singing for Ally. I would have done it immediately but I didn't think it would take this long. We all know that he'll drop her off somewhere and run. We don't want him to run but I don't want Ally dead." I hear Mr. Dawson sob at my last word.

They nod. Luckily the analyst says, "I found him!" before it comes to that.

I rush to her side. "Where is he?"

"He is..." she pinpoints the location. She stops.

"Where?!" I demand.

"He's here."

"In Miami?" an officer asks.

"No," she says. "In the mall."


	32. Chapter 32

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

"In the mall!?" I yell. She nods. "Where? Where is this loser hiding?"

"I can't tell you that much. But I do know that it's really hard to trace because of his cell service. Which means he's probably underground."

I think for a moment. "So the basement?"

"Most likely, yeah."

I shove my phone in my pocket, grab the flashlight from the store counter and run from the store. Soon, everyone is behind me, except the analyst and a few officers.

"Mr. Dawson," I yell. "How do we get down from here?"

"Where are the supply closets," Nicole asks. I don't know why she followed us. "There are usually ways to get to the heating systems in the basements from there."

"Erh," Mr. Dawson says, thinking. "I think they're this way." He starts jogging left. We all follow.

_We're coming, Ally._

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

Where's Trent? He hasn't harassed me for a while.

Almost like I conjured him, he opens the door and says, "missed me?"

"Hardly," I reply.

"You haven't eaten in days and you have the nerve to be rude to the only person who can give you food?" He chuckles.

"I'd rather die."

"Oh, you will," he assures me. "If Austin doesn't give in soon, I'd estimate you have 3 days left until you starve." He smiles at me.

_What a freak._

"Good," is all I say.

He closes the door and sits on my bed, staring at me. "You're very pretty, even when you're dying."

Ew. I don't respond.

"Very pretty," he whispers.

I inch closer in to the wall.

He stands up and takes a step closer to me.

"What are you doing," I demand.

"Just... curious," he responds.

"You're sick," I say. "You need help."

"Maybe," he admits. "But who's going to make me?" He gets closer.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Mr. Dawson was right. We're all running and jumping downstairs. So many flights of stairs.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

"STOP," I yell to Trent. He's getting closer. Never touching, but still invading my personal space.

"C'mon," he coos. He grabs my hands and holds them down. I'm too weak to fight him. I can feel his breath on my face.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

If I thought there were a lot of stairs, I was definitely not expecting there to be this many doors. A narrow hallway with about 3 dozen doors. What the hell? Why?

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm squirming and trying to yell but he elbowed me in the stomach so I'm winded. This is it.

I'm over.

He puts his lips to mine and I start to cry.

Just then, Austin and about 10 other people barge through the door.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I see Trent there, towering over Ally, forcefully kissing her. Before I have time to think, I act. I run across the small room and pull Trent to the ground.

I start yelling and throwing punches. He fights back, but I'm so angry I barely notice the hits.

I just start wailing on him. No one stops me. I can feel the officers looking at me, a couple consoling Ally. Trish and Dez look frightened. Nicole stopped the cameraman from filming me.

It was just me and Trent. He hits me in the jaw and I'm in shock long enough for him to get up, but I trip him before he moves and he falls, bashing his head on the bed. He's knocked out.

Thankfully, Dex directed us to the room. He tried to tell the officers that he was forced to help Trent kidnap Ally. He didn't want to. I don't know how they'll handle him, legally, but I hope he doesn't do time for too long.

I stand there, looking at Trent, unconscious.

I snap put of my daze and I look up at Ally. She's staring at Trent, crying.

I run up to her and she wraps her arms around me. She's so _small _and _frail_. Like a butterfly after metamorphosis. I hold her carefully, but securely so I don't hurt her. I start crying. Her legs give way underneath her and I catch her before she falls to the ground. Over exertion. I lift her in to my arms and I carry her up all 7 flights of stairs.

I'm going to crash, too, I know it.

Once Ally's on the stretcher and in the ambulance, I crawl in beside her and collapse.

**BOTH**

We're safe.

**More tragedies? Or should I just end the story? Up to you! There will be more chapters either way!**


	33. Chapter 33

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I wake up in a hospital room. It's chilly and dark. It's very quiet. I only hear the faint murmur of machines. But they're not connected to me, I realize. Actually, nothing is connected to me. Maybe I'm just resting.

Am I dreaming?

I try to find the origin of the sound and I look in the direction of the window. I see a bed with someone in it. I can't tell who it is because it's so dark.

Suddenly I remember what happened. It comes in flashes. Ally... fainting... hospital... fears... caterpillar... kiss... movies... Dez... leg... hospital... sleeping... caterpillar... songs... Sonic Boom... robbery... Trent... police... escape... Ally... kidnapped... interview... Panther Beat... Ally... sick... me... Trent... fighting... fainting... Ally... I love Ally...

I remember that Ally was sick and tired and really skinny. She was so fragile. I remember beating Trent up and getting beat up. Just then I feel pain radiating from my face, almost like a reminder that I didn't walk away unharmed. It doesn't matter. Ally is safe. I realize that the person in the bed parallel to mine is Ally. She's hooked up to the machines I hear. Luckily, nothing unrecognizable, so I know she's stable.

I peer around the side tables for any means of communication to the nurses. Nothing.

_Oh, yeah, _I think to myself. _I can just leave the room._

I find my way in the dark to the door and quietly exit. _Oh no! _I exclaim to myself. I freak out, thinking that I'm wearing a hospital gown outside in the hall way, but look down and see my jeans and undershirt. My button-up must be in the room. Whatever.

I make my way down the hall.

I'm stopped by a nurse. "Who are you," she demands.

"Erh, Austin Moon," I reply. "I'm a patient, but I couldn't find anyone when I woke up and I didn't want to disturb Ally."

She sighs. "This way," she says, directing me back down the hall I just came from. "Have a seat in here and I'll send someone in." She opens the door to reveal a waiting area and I see my mom and dad, as well as Mr. Dawson.

"Austin!" they exclaim unanimously.

My mom jumps up to hug me. "Oh, baby," she says. "I'm so proud of you."

"For what?" I ask, confused.

"For being so brave and caring. Ally is lucky to have you." She kisses my cheek and head probably a thousand times.

"Mom," I squirm. "I'm fine. And thanks."

"You be good to her, okay?" My dad says.

I nod. "Of course, Dad."

"I'm glad you're okay, son."

I'm then wrapped up in another hug, but this time the pressure hurts my cheek and eye. I flinch. They back up immediately.

"Erh," Mr. Dawson cuts in. "Did you see Ally?"

"Yeah, we were put in the same room." I rub my cheek.

"Is she okay?"

"All I know is that she isn't hooked up to any questionable machines." I laugh. "She's fine."

Mr. Dawson laughs and sighs simultaneously. "Thanks."

I nod and sit down in between my parents.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I'm having a dream. But for once it isn't a bad one.

It's good.

I love it.

I couldn't even describe other than perfect.

There are palm trees everywhere. Very faint breeze combing through my hair. I'm on a beach. The send sifting through my toes. I'm wearing a gorgeous dress. It's white and down to my knees. It's made of pure silk and floats in the breeze. The air smells of sea salt and coconuts. Gentle waves caress my feet at the shore. Everything is so tranquil and beautiful.

I hear the faint laughs of children and the faint crash of waves. I suddenly feel the delicate drops of an oncoming rain shower hitting my skin. The air is warm and the rain is cool.

The rain picks up and I'm suddenly getting soaked and the dress is clinging to my body. I've never felt more blissful.

A hand grabs mine from behind and I look up to see Austin, eyes gleaming. He has the most genuine smile. Our fingers intertwine and he holds up our hands so we can both see. I'm suddenly aware of our matching rings. I realize we're married. He takes my other hand and pulls me close. I'm wrapped up in his warm hug, only hearing our breaths, the rain and the sea. We stand like that for an eternity.

Suddenly my dream changes scenery and we're still on that beautiful beach, but we're running to a magnificent beach house complete with floor-to-roof windows overlooking the beach itself. It's an off-white colour with log cabin look. Actually, it's the house I've always dreamed of having since I was a little girl.

Austin opens the door for me and I go inside, immediately awestruck by the interior. The house was full of beautiful furniture and decor. The living room had a pale colour palette with sky blues and tans and whites. Most distinctively, right above the couch (which looked incredibly soft), hanging on the wall was a framed canvas of Austin's records, each a different colour, resembling a rainbow.

We sit on the couch and I snuggle up to him. I soon fall asleep, and I, in turn, wake up in the real world.

The first person I see is Austin, hovering over my bed, smiling at me.

He leans down and kisses me.


	34. Chapter 34

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

We were checking out of the hospital and the four of us – Austin, Trish, Dez and I – were waiting for our parents by the front doors. Austin had his arm around my shoulder and Trish was trying to convince Dez to lend her a dollar for a bag of chips from the vending machine.

"No," he said.

"Please," she begged.

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Please."

"Fine."

"Really?"

"No!"

And this went on and on. My head was bouncing back and forth between them like a tennis match.

"Guys," Austin shouted over them.

"That's enough," I finished. I pulled out a dollar bill from my pocket. "Here, Trish."

She takes it and thanks me. She slaps Dez on the shoulder. He holds it in mock agony. I roll my eyes and laugh.

Once my dad and Austin's parents come out, I hug Dez and Austin and he kisses me on the forehead. I smile. Trish hugs them both and feigns disgust at Dez but laughs all the while.

"Bye," Trish and I call to the guys. They wave in response and we go our separate ways.

In the car, my dad decides to be a dad. "So," he says, trying to be casual. "You and Austin, now, eh?"

"Yes, Dad," I say, rolling my eyes. "It's no big deal."

"Well your first boyfriend and all..."

"It's all good," I say. "No worries."

"I'm not worried," he lies. "I know Austin loves you." This time he meant it.

"And I love him."

"Good. But I'm your father and I want you to know that I'll always be here if you want to talk about... you know... stuff."

I clue in. "Dad!" I groan. "Nothing like that is happening, Dad. You left us alone for the whole weekend and nothing happened."

"Yeah," Trish pipes in. "The most exciting thing to happen was Dez falling through your floor."

"Oh, yeah, I have to fix that," Dad sighs.

Trish and I laugh from the back seat. I love my dad, but sometimes he talks too much.

It was a peaceful drive home.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Once Dez and I were home, his leg started hurting again. "It's been a while," I say, surprised. "When should it be healed completely?"

"It's healed, now," he tells me. "The doctor said I may have an occasional pain here or there for a cuple months, though."

"Ah," I nod.

Everything is back to normal, luckily. Ally and I plan on getting together for lunch tomorrow and trying to work on a new song. Tonight, Dez and I are going to Skype with the girls. It's only 7 right now and Ally said she'd call at 9:30. For now, Dez throws a movie into his laptop and we lounge around watching it.

I could hardly focus on it, though. All I could think about is Ally. And Trent. And how I really enjoyed giving him what he deserved. And I hate that. I hate that it felt good. I don't know if maybe I'd feel different if it was someone else he had kidnapped. But Ally is my best friend and my girlfriend and my inspiration.

I remember the very first time I met Ally._ It was a warm day in Miami. I woke up that morning feeling rested and ready for anything. I always knew that I wanted to be a musician. But that morning I felt more determined. I had called up Dez and demanded he come over. We decided that no matter what happened that day, it was going to be the first step towards success. I was tired of waking up every summer morning to the same old routine. Dez and I went to the mall and bought pancakes from Mini's. They were delicious, all 4 Oreo-sized pancakes with my tiny chocolate milk. Dez had told me about this music store called Sonic Boom that sold almost every kind of instrument. We decided to go see what kind of instrument appealed the most to me. I had a guitar, but maybe something else would catch my eye. Well something did. The cute cashier in the store who was firm but polite. I guess I didn't really notice then how great she was. I pretty much ignored her while I was there. _

_I started playing all the instruments. All of them. Even the drums. In retrospect, I don't really know why I was using corn dogs as drum sticks. She didn't like it. She complained how we weren't following the rules, that we were being unsanitary and her sarcastic responses were hilarious, though I didn't think so at the time. I accidentally stole her song and made it a huge hit. I felt immensely awful about it. She forgave me, though, because Ally is an amazing person. She helped me right another song. And __another. And it just worked. We clicked. The four of us became best friends and assembled Team Austin._

To this day, I don't think I have thanked her enough. She is far too humble and doesn't seem to realize that.

I'm lost in thought when my laptop rings. I realize it's 9:30 on the dot. I smile a big smile and Dez pauses the movie.

I answer the call and the it's like the four of us are together in the same room.


	35. Chapter 35

**So it's been a couple days since I last posted a chapter. I want to thank everyone who has stuck by my story. I'm at over 100 reviews and I'm so proud and thankful. I haven't received many reviews on my last chapter and I'm having a hard time determining if it's because it was bad or if everyone has been busy. I look forward to your reviews and thoughts; it makes me better at writing. This chapter is a little fluffy.**

Later, I woke up, disoriented. I look at the clock and it says 4 am. I blink a few times to wake up and realize that Dez had fallen asleep, too. And that we were still on Skype with Ally and Trish. And they were sleeping.

I chuckle. I end the video call and go curl up on my bed. I'm out like a light once more.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I woke up feeling refreshed. Somewhere between chatting with the guys at my desk and waking up, I must have moved to my bed. I look at the clock and it's 9:30 am.

I yawn and stretch. My phone buzzes. There's a message from Austin.

_Let me know when you're awake,_it says.

I smile and type back, _I will._

I can almost see the confused look on his face at my response. I giggle. I open my balcony doors and step outside, putting a light knit sweater on in the process.

_Oh, _he replies.

I laugh again. I gently tousle my hair and put it up in a messy bun.

_So what's up? _I text him.

_Nm, wanted to know if you wanted to go to lunch?_

I smile widely. _I'd love 2_

_Great. See you at 12. Love you. :)_

_Love you more x_

_Doubt it. ;)_

I roll my eyes and laugh. I just sit there for a while, watching the sky and listening to birds. The clouds are beautiful today. Thinking back to the cloud watching club, I remember these clouds are cirrus clouds. Not easily made in to shapes, but beautiful to look at. The sky was blue with a very light tinge of orange still holding on to the sun rise. The western part of the sky was still a little dark, but that was very far away.

Everything is tranquil. I curl my knees in to my chest inside my oversized sweater and drift off to sleep in my little patio recliner.

I must have been asleep for a while because when I wake up, Austin is there, leaning on the balcony looking at the sky.

I'm slightly confused at first, but soon realize that we were supposed to go out at 12. I glance in my room to try to see the time but I can't.

"It's 1:30," Austin tells me softly without turning his head. "I came here and your dad let me in." He looks over to me and smiles. "I came upstairs to find Trish on your floor, snoring like a freight train by the way," he chuckles. "And the door was open. I came out here and found you sleeping. You looked cold so I brought a blanket out."

I notice the blanket and I turn a shade pink. "Sorry," I apologize.

"Don't apologize, Ally," he laughs. "It was cute." He comes over and plants a soft kiss on my lips and pulls away far too soon.

I get up and stretch, stiff from my nap. I'm about to go inside but Austin grabs me from behind and holds me, evidently with no intention on ever letting me go. I smile and turn to face him. He wraps his arms around my waist, my arms around his neck and we just stand there, listening to the hypothetical soundtrack of our lives. My head's on his chest because I'm so much shorter and his chin rests o.

"We should go," I say but hug him tighter. He laughs and responds with a tightening grip.

"Okay," he finally agrees. "Get dressed and I'll wait out here."

"Oh," I say, stopping in the doorway. I turn to face him. "What about Trish?"

"Good point," he agrees. "I'll call Dez to come keep her company. I know she'll love that." He winks at me. I laugh and go inside.

He makes me feel... well, he just makes me feel. And I love it. I wrap my arms around myself before closing the blinds to the balcony.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I laugh aloud when Ally closes the blinds.

I pull out my cell and phone Dez.

"_Hello_," he answers groggily.

"Dez," I say. "Can you come to Ally's to keep Trish company while she sleeps? We're going out for lunch."

"_Awh,"_ Dez complains, sounding more awake. "_But Trish is mean!_"

I laugh. "Just bring a movie for you to watch. Like _Zaliens _or something."

"_Oh,_ _okay,"_ he says.

I just finish speaking with him when Ally comes out. Her hair lightly sitting on her shoulders and she's wearing a navy blue dress. Her shoes are little black flats with a small bow on each. I never really understood the craze women went through when it came to shoes, but I guess I'm just as pretentious considering I own about 2 dozen different colour pairs of the same shoe. I laugh internally at myself. I give her look of awe and smile. She's so beautiful.

"Don't stare," she playfully scolds.

I roll my eyes. "Don't give me a reason to," I say, somewhat seductively. She catches on and winks. She laughs and goes back through the door. As I follow her though, she picks up the majority of the garbage from last night's junk food binge. She straightens out Trish's sleeping area, but it's kind of hard because of you know, Trish.

As she's finishing, Dez walks through the door with his entire_ Zaliens _collection.

We thank him and leave.

Today will be a good day.


	36. Negative Review (Not a Chapter)

This is a quick response to my latest review. I got my second bad review. I'm grateful that in 35 chapters there have only been 2. I love you guys. :)

This review, posted by _You're Ugly_ – _You're Ugly:Yo this story fuckin SUCKS! Why would you even bother wasting your_

_time writing this? Austin (Ross L) wouldn't want anything to do woth you._

_Austin and Ally in the show don't even really kiss. They both didn't_

_want a_

_relationship so can you shut the fuck up and stop writing about all this dumb  
ass bullshit?_

Thank you for your review. There was bound to be another bad one coming my way. You don't have to like it. I appreciate that you took the time to read it anyway.

Furthermore, Austin and Ally do kiss very recently in the season. I saw it before I started writing the fan fiction. Additionally, it is called 'fan fiction', thereby stating that it is a made up story and not real (fiction) and written by people who like the story (fans). None of what happens in the story happens in the actual show, Austin & Ally.

It is after all, _fan fiction._

Have a great day! :)


	37. Chapter 36

_**Hey guys, thanks so much for your patience for the new chapter. School is rough and I've been basking in my homework-free weekend. Thank you for your continued support through my stories and my negative reviews. I've had people ask why I bother even posting them. But I do because they're still reviews and I don't want new readers to think that the only comments I get are good ones. I do get bad ones on occasion, most of them from flames from ignorant people. But I still post them. So thanks so much to the actual reviews and thoughts on each chapter. :)**_

I love you guys. I may start another story with a different plot, but I won't post it until after this one is finished so I don't compromise my time on each story.

_**I've also been reading some Auslly, so if you have any stories that you've written or read that are Auslly with lots of chapters – or lots of words - (I'm not a huge fan of one-shots) that you'd like me to read, please tell me the titles in the comments. I'm always looking for reading material. :) Thanks!**_

After lunch, Ally and I decide to go to the beach. We aren't sure why. Neither of us are dressed for it. We decide to just sit on the sand, close enough to the water so the high tide caresses our toes but doesn't drench the rest of our clothes.

Ally's knees are pulled in to her chest and I'm sitting cross legged. We just sit there, for who knows how long, talking. Just talking. About everything. About movies, about Dez and Trish, about Ally's incident at Sonic Boom. This leads to quiet discussions about Dez's leg, Sonic Boom being robbed and Trent kidnapping Ally...

"I just don't understand all of this could really happen so fast," Ally says to me at one point. "One day we're all just enjoying being teenagers and the next day it's taken away from us faster than we can even imagine."

I nod. "Yeah. It happens," I agree. "Unfortunately, it happened to us." I wrap my arm around her shoulder. "Do you think it's all over now?"

"I hope so."

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

Dear God, I hope so.

Later on, I wake up. We're still at the beach and Austin's arms are still wrapped around me, but we're laying back on the ground, covered in a blanket of retreating sunshine. I sit up. I notice that the majority of the people who were here before have left. My watch says that it's 6:30 pm. I guess everyone went home for dinner.

I check my texts to see I had one from Trish.

_I am so mad at u right now, _it says. _I can't believe you left me with Dez. But I'm glad you didn't wake me up. And he's lucky he brought the Zaliens collection instead of Bikini Beach Blood Bash or something because the only blood he'd be experiencing is his own._

I chuckle wide-eyed at my phone. _Easy, Trish,_ I reply. _Play nice._

_Yeah yeah, you better be home soon._

_I will. I'll text when we're on our way back._

_Have fun._

_You too ;)_

_Hmph._

I outright laugh, accidentally waking Austin from his slumber. "Sorry," I say.

"It's okay," he says, brushing off the apology. "I can't believe we fell asleep."

"I can," I say. "But look at the water, it's so calm."

"Want to go wreak havoc on the ocean," he asks with a sinister expression. He raises his eyebrows.

"Pardon me?" I ask, worried.

Suddenly he stands, picks me up over his shoulder and before I can protest, is running towards the ocean.

I'm laughing and screaming and can tell that we're being watched by the few people left on the sand.

He throws me in and I completely submerge in the cool water, escaping the Miami heat. I open my eyes and – despite the pain – I navigate a few dozen yards away from Austin, carefully not showing my body. I slowly come out from the ocean, watching him look for me in his general area. He moves around trying to find me. I chuckle. I go under again and swim closer. I'm close enough for a massive splash attack. I stand up in the water and start running – as well as you can in water – towards him. I splash him as hard as I can before he and I both fall off balance.

He gets up and wipes his hair from his face, searching for me. When he sees me, he gives me this _look. _One that tells me to be afraid. I start swimming away but since he knew where I was this time, he caught up quick and wrapped his arms around my waist.

He pulls me up and brings me to his chest, whispering, "not today." He kisses my head and starts tickling my sides unexpectedly. I start writhing in laughter and nervousness and I squirm to get away. He doesn't budge though.

The only way to get him to stop is to scare him.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

Ally's body is suddenly limp in my arms.

I panic, turning her to face me and only seeing her eyes closed.

"Ally," I yell. I sweep the wet hair from her face to the best of my ability. "Ally, wake up."

She doesn't move. Oh God, what did I do. Please, no. No, no, no.

"_Ally._"

I pick her up, kind of in that way that guys carry their brides over the threshold, and start walking towards the shore. I hate how restricting water is. It's so hard to run.

When we're about 10 yards from the sand, she starts to move, suddenly wrapping her arms around my neck jumping from my arms and pulling me under the water. I'm completely beneath the surface, confused. I stand up and wipe my eyes.

Ally is there, arms crossed with a smug look on her face. "Ha," is all she says, chuckling.

"What just happened?" I ask.

"I just beat '_the master'_ at his own game," she says, making air quotations around _the master_, clearly an attempt at mocking me.

I laugh. I notice the way her dress is clinging to her body from being wet. "You're gorgeous," I tell her, making her overly confident facade falter and her cheeks flush.

"I'm soaked," she complains.

"Luckily, I took my shirt off before I threw you in," I say. "Let's get you in that." I wrap my arm around her waist and walk with her back to our spot.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

His shirt was so warm from laying in the sun, I was almost dry by the time we got home.

When we walked upstairs and in to my room, we saw Dez there, scarfing popcorn and watching _Zaliens_, while Trish was lying asleep on his lap.

I look at Austin and give him a look that says, _Yeah right. Like they hate eachother. _I roll my eyes, pull out my cell phone and take a picture. Dez doesn't even notice.

I love my friends.


	38. Chapter 37

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**_

**I want to thank everyone for their continued patience. I've been seriously distracted with school right now (I'm failing my first period class) as well as my other Auslly story. I haven't published that one, yet, but I might _publish publish _it instead of only posting it here. I don't know. Anyway, thank you guys, again, and I'll try to have another one up by Wednesday if I can. Also, I thought I published this chapter a few days ago, but realized that I only uploaded in to the Doc Manager and forgot to actually post the chapter. Sorry!**

** P.S. Keep giving me suggestions on good Auslly fics to read. :) I love them. Preferably not one-shots, unless they're realllly good. I like angst, crime, suspense, hurt/comfort and romance, so pour 'em in. Even if you want me to read yours, let me know.**

** If you haven't read it, yet, check out** _Looking For One Tonight._ **It's the only Austin & Ally fic titled that. I forget the author, but it's really good. I love it.**

** Thanks, guys! You're the best! :) #FearsandFatalities on Twitter or Instagram! I'll follow whoever does! amyleepower**

When Trish wakes up, she looks around, dazed, and realizes who she's laying on. She jerks away, startled. "Uh, ew," I hear her whisper, more to herself than anyone else.

I choke back laughter. Dez was sleeping. Austin had fallen asleep on my shoulder and I didn't want to wake him. I was sitting there, mindlessly watching the title menu for _Zaliens _over and over again. It didn't bother me, the repetitiveness. It was almost relaxing, be able to focus on one thing.

I didn't want to fall asleep. Last night I dreamt about that little room Trent kept me locked in. All I could remember was feeling so alone and afraid. I remember being in so much pain from Trent's consistent beatings. He explained it to me as 'doing my makeup' for a 'photo shoot' exclusively for Austin. I had to look bad in order to get saved. I remember crying every day. The only source of hope I had was the little caterpillar. I had woken up, chills running up and down my spine.

But I never told anyone that. Not even Austin. I didn't want him to worry. I was fine, really. I just had a couple bad dreams. That's it.

Trish moving around the bed snaps me back to reality. "You okay?" I whisper.

She looks at me, still looking dazed and confused. "Uh," she murmurs. "Yeah, I think so."

She pulls the blanket from Dez and cuddles up with it on the other side of the bed, almost immediately falling to sleep. I sit there, staring at the wall. Austin's shoulder is oddly comfortable and all I want to do is sleep for a good 12 hours, yet at the same time, I want to avoid sleep at all costs.

But I can't help it.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

I wake to Ally shaking in her sleep, clutching my shirt with her life. Initially, I'm confused. But I soon get over that when I realize she's having a nightmare. I jump up, careful not to let her fall, and grab a blanket. I scoop her up in it, noticing the remarkable soft fabric, and run outside with her on the patio. I set her down on the porch swing, kneeling beside her and stroking her hair.

"Ally," I coo. "It's okay, I'm here."

She wakes suddenly, looking at me with wide and frightened eyes. "Austin?" she asks, terror dripping from her voice.

I just nod and continue to stroke her hair, her breaths becoming calmer and slower.

"I had a bad dream," she exclaims. "About Trent. He blew up the mall while we were all in the basement." Tears start to fall from her eyes. "But before he did he shot us. Both you and I. Then before the police could find him, he blew himself up. We all died. That's when I woke up. God, I hate these dreams," she cries.

I sit her up and lean her against me. "It's okay, now, everything is okay." I have to wonder, though. _Is _everything really okay?

"I don't think I'll ever be over these dreams."

"We'll get through them, Ally. I promise." And I meant it.

"I know. But I just wish they stopped _now_."

"How long have you been having these dreams?"

I feel her body go rigid. "Uh," she stammers. "Um, I don't know. Only a couple times."

"Als, you've always been the worst liar. How long," I ask sternly.

She sighs. "Every night since..." she trails off. She knows I know what she means.

I don't know what to say in response. I really don't. A part of me wants to get mad that she'd keep this from me. That she doesn't trust me enough to talk to me about things when she's upset. But another part of me – luckily, the smarter part – just wants to hold her for the rest of forever and tell her everything will be okay, and at the same time _know _that it will. I want to be able to know beyond a reasonable doubt that she will not be harmed anymore. But I can't know that. And it scares me.

The truth is, I've had a bad dream, very similar to Ally's, every night, too. The shooting part. Trent pulls a gun and shoots Ally, square in the stomach, before shooting me just below the heart. She falls in to me and I fall in to the wall, the two of us slowly crumpling to the floor like tin foil. There are no words in my vocabulary to explain how painful the whole situation was, seeing Ally get shot then actually _being _shot. I wake up every time we hit the floor as one. Every. Time. But I know that Ally would know what to say to me if I told her. Unlike me.

So I just squeeze her shoulders and kiss her head. I don't say anything, in fear of saying the _wrong _thing. And we sit there for who knows how long. She falls asleep on my arm, but doesn't have a bad dream again as far as I can tell.

Trish comes to the door and just looks at me, concern filling her eyes. I simply nod, indicating that everything was okay. She nods and turns back to the room.

I sit there for a little while and wonder why my life is the way it is; so blessed and so cursed at the exact same time.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

"Say goodbye, Ally," Trent says, shooting me in the stomach. I close my eyes and writh in pain. But nothing can describe the feeling I get when he shoots Austin, too, and we both go down.


	39. Chapter 38

**Not a lot of people have been reading lately; might end soon. A few more chapters maybe? I'll think more about it later. Thanks to those reading now. :)**

I wake with a jolt. I almost fall out of Austin's arms, but he tightens his grip. I look at my surroundings and realize we're outside on my patio. I look at Austin. He looks absolutely horrified.

"What?" I ask, confused. I stand from his hold.

"Are you okay?" he asks. "You were mumbling and you sounded like you were in pain." He starts fidgeting.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I lie.

"You had that dream again, didn't you..." It was more of a statement rather than a question, but I still nod slowly in response. He sighs and gently takes my hand in his. "You're okay now, though?"

I simply nod again. I smile at him.

"Okay," he relaxes.

"Austin?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you love me?"

He laughs. He laughs this loud and genuine and heartwarming laugh. He stands up and says, "I love you for so many reasons, Ally. You couldn't possibly know. Maybe I don't even know half of them. But I know that I do and that's what matters."

I feel a blush creep up my cheeks. "Yeah, but with so many reasons to love _you_, I can't think of any to love me. Like I know that I'm a good friend. In my heart I know that my friends are important and I'll be there if they need me. But why do you love me? What's different now than before all that happened?"

He smiles at me. He goes to close the door to my room all of the way before sitting gently on the swing with me.

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

When I sit down, I looked her square in the eye and told her. Told her everything.

"Ally, I guess because you're so genuine. You are this real person, with plans and goals and talents. You don't cover yourself in makeup. You wear a little bit of eyeliner and mascara. Some days you wear eyeshadow. You even put on blush to mask your real blush, but I can always see through it because you turn this rosy gold pink that compliments your face the way a sunset compliments the ocean. You have this wholesome smile and beautiful chocolate eyes and hair that Lady Godiva herself would envy.

"You had the opportunity to go to MUNY and you turned it down because you wanted to stay with us. We kind of pulled you back and I''m sorry we stopped you from going to your dream school. Ally, I really am. But I'm _not _sorry that you're still here with me... Erh, with us." I chuckle.

"You are an amazing friend. Even when I wouldn't be a great friend to you or I'd write stupid songs or I'd play instruments within instruments and eat in the store when you said not to, or when Dez makes childish remarks or goes from a child-like being to a philosopher in 2 seconds flat, or when Trish comes in to the store every day announcing her new job or tries to make every moment about her, you stay sane. You smile and nod your head at the right times and you really do care about others.

"You sing beautifully and you play beautifully and you're very forgiving and you're so small and you seem so fragile and I know in my heart that you're not. You're so, so strong. But it doesn't stop me from being protective and you're okay with it.

"You prioritize. You think things through. You're smart. You're all that many kids wish they were.

"And..." I stop for a moment to think. "And I don't think anything changed – like the way I feel for you. Maybe I've always felt this way. Maybe I just didn't realize how much I cared until I saw you, pale skin and blue lips, cold and comatose, on the verge of dying. Maybe I just didn't realize how much I've been avoiding feeling this way.

"Ally, when you were in the hospital the first time, I knew it. I felt something tear itself from within me when I saw you there, looking helpless and lifeless. When Trent got you, all I could think about was how I always neglect to tell you that I love you before it's too late. All I could think was, this isn't it, right?

"When I found you. When you looked at me with that desperate look and loving eyes and I took you in my arms, it took all the strength left in me to love you as much as you loved me in that moment. I knew that that was all you needed. You needed to feel loved after being hurt for so long...

"When I saw the caterpillar in the room with you, I was filled with this new sense of hope." By now the tears were falling down my face but my voice didn't crack. I spoke with such power and certainty. I hoped it was enough for her. "I don't know how to explain why a caterpillar had such control over me. But it kind of reminded me of you when you were in the hospital. I guess that since you came out from that situation okay, I knew that you'd come out okay for this, too. And even though it haunts you every night, even though everything _did _happen, and even though I can't express my feelings as well as I'd like to, I want – no... I _need _you to know that I love you."

And before she could react, I took my face in my hands and kissed her. We kissed so passionately I felt like we were literally turning in to a cheesy love story. Maybe that's what love is really like and all the overrated movies portray it perfectly. Maybe people don't like or appreciate it because not everyone has had the privilege of experiencing true love. I felt like I was sitting in a theatre watching this horrible movie and listening to the gut-wrenching sounds of girls – and Dez – crying out every tear in their bodies. Maybe I just envied that even fake characters could find love and I couldn't.

But here, with Ally, I know what love is. It's horrible and it's sappy and it's annoying and it's beautiful and it's perfect. It's the way I look at Ally and the way that she looks at me. It's how our lips are pressed together so she doesn't have to say anything in response to me. Because I know she's speechless. It's how her tears are combining in salty messes on our cheeks and we couldn't care less.

"I love you," I whisper on her lips.


	40. Chapter 39

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally. All rights and reserves go to Kevin and Heath Productions, It's a Laugh! Productions and Disney. **_

_**Okay, guys, this is the second last chapter. I may or may not do an epilogue. I want to thank everyone so far for being a part of this. This probably sounds like a sell out but believe me – you all mean so much to me for sticking through all 40 chapters. I hope you liked it. xx**_

_**#fearsandfatalities | tweet or instagram a photo with this tag and I'll follow you. amyleepower**_

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Life is confusing. It goes from making total sense to being totally destructive to making sense again. But once everything's back to normal, it doesn't feel normal. Sometimes it's better, sometimes it's worse.

This is better.

Ever since I told Ally how I felt last week, we've been even closer (I didn't know it was possible). Both her and her dad went back to work, Trent and Dex's trial passed and sent Trent to jail for a long time. Dex was to complete a full week of community service – in other words, 168 hours. Luckily for him he was able to do this throughout the course of 3 months. Unluckily for him, 2 of these months were summer. He and Dez were closer, too.

Surprisingly, Trish was warming up to Dez. Not in the romantic way like Ally and I are still convinced will happen some day, but in a friend way. Sort of like Ally and I were before. The duo went to a _Zaliens _convention yesterday. I decided to stay with Ally and finally finish that song.

When I entered the store yesterday, everything felt like old times. The guitars were still hanging there, Ally's songbook was on the counter, begging people to peek inside. Ally was as protective of it as I imagine she'd be with our kids someday.

I mean-

Uh-

Yeah, whatever, I do dream about it.

Sue me.

Anyway, after she finished her shift and her dad took over, we had gone upstairs to finish the song we'd been trying to write for months. Everything went well, the melody, the harmonizing. We did decide to keep the song to ourselves (including Dez and Trish), though, because Ally wanted to make it a duet and her stage fright was still dominating her confidence. It felt like a more genuine song when we kept it to ourselves, really. It was more personal. I loved it.

It was still about escaping our fears. We realized that the problem wasn't in escaping our fears, it was in admitting that we were afraid. After all that has happened we truly had an appreciation for the song – and each other.

So today, Dez and Trish came to Sonic Boom to hang out with me and Ally. Everything felt... perfect. We talked and played music – it turns out Dez was sort of good at the piano. No body knew because he never tried. He didn't know, either.

We all teased Trish about her _new _job at _Sally's Sodas_. Except she was kind of excited about it because she was a taste tester.

"I thought I'd get little paper cups with tiny samples," she had said. "But they give me a bottle and basically I need to report how it tastes every day. That reminds me-" she had pulled out 4 bottles of a blue carbonated drink- "I asked if we could all try it and my boss gave me 4 samples of the next 3 ideas." She had handed us each a blue bottle, then from her bag she pulled out 4 red bottles and 4 black bottles. "The red is strawberry-pomegranate and the black is combination drink or something." She read the labels. "Oh right, it's sort of a mix between _Dr. Pepper_ and root beer. It's good, I already had some. I just told my boss I didn't so I could have more." She laughed and took a big gulp from the black bottle and Dez joined her. I tried the blue one and it tasted like blue raspberry and watermelon. It was delicious. All I could think was that I was so relieved that this company wasn't making questionable flavours. These actually worked.

And from that point on in the day we just talked as friends. I sat with Ally but we didn't do that couple-y stuff that Trish gags over. I think we sat in the practice room for hours. Next thing we knew, it was dark and Mr. Dawson brought us all sleeping bags and a pizza.

"I called your parents," he had said. "It's cool if you crash here. I'm going home, I love you, Ally."

"I love you, too, Dad," she responded, beaming at him.

And with that we wrapped ourselves in blankets and kept talking and eating. We eventually ran out of the sample drinks Trish brought us because they were so good, but we moved on to actual marketed drinks which all paled in comparison. Like cream soda and _Pepsi_ and ginger-ale were generic drinks that seemed awfully lame after the others. But they were still good and still sugary enough to keep us awake until 3 am.

And since it's 3, that brings us to today. But I don't usually consider it the next day until I wake up. So I'll just cuddle up behind Ally on the floor for now and sleep off the sugar and pizza and happiness.

I grin and go to sleep.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

I had that dream again. I was trapped in the bottom of the mall with Trent, evilly holding me captive. He had a gun so I wasn't stupid enough to test him.

But Austin was.

He barged through the door, startling Trent and making him fall. He runs over to me and holds me close. I hold him tightly, knowing something bad was going to happen.

"Say goodbye, Ally," Trent warns, standing and aiming the gun at me.

No. "No, Trent," I reply. He looks at me quizzically. "Not today." And since it's my dream, the "camera" that focuses on the scene in your dream (you know what I mean) shows my hand, suddenly holding the gun he had.

I aim it at him, shoot, and wake up.

I realize that Austin's arm is wrapped around me, sleeping like a baby. I smile, check the time – 5:30 am – and go back to sleep.

We're going to be okay.


	41. Chapter 40

**__****DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.**

**AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW**

The next day, Dez and I woke up first. Around the exact same time actually. We removed ourselves from the room and quietly went down the first flight of the stairs in Sonic Boom. We sat at the little landing there together, just sort of reminiscing.

"I'm just glad everything is over," Dez tells me quietly. I can faintly hear birds outside the store.

"Me, too," I admit. "We can rest easy, I guess."

"Yeah, but will we ever be the same again? Like mentally?" He sounded scared.

"Dez, don't worry. You're not supposed to worry. You're supposed to be fun and ridiculous and that person who somehow makes light of a horrible situation." I chuckle.

"Shut up," he laughs. "I can be soft."

"Evidently."

He rolls his eyes. "Seriously, though. After all that has happened, how will continue with our lives?"

"They way we have been," I tell him. "We order pizza, tell jokes, make fun of Trish and her abundance of jobs and we just laugh. We watch movies. We act like friends. We'll never forget what happened, Dez. Never. But if we extract the positives from every bad situation, we'll be able to move on sooner rather than later. I don't want this to shape my future."

"What about you and Ally?" he winks at me.

"What about you and Trish?" I retort.

He scoffs. "Austin, seriously. Nothing is going on with us. We're friends... close friends. Us-" he gestures to himself and the practice room- "isn't going to happen anytime soon. And I don't want it to. I love that I can be her friend. Remember like the first time we all met and you made _Double Take _in to a big hit because you thought it was yours?" I nod. "And remember when I sprayed her with your _Austin_ perfume made with your sweat?"

I laugh. "Yeah, but you forgot a few _Austin_'s."

"Whatever," he grins. "Well I sprayed her with it and she looked at me dead in the eye and said, 'I don't like you'. At the time, I didn't care that much. I didn't know we'd all be best friends. Then we became friends and all I could think was, _gee. I wonder if she'll ever want to be my friend. _And that's all I cared about – trying to get her to be my friend. We bonded over the _Zaliens _thing, I guess. And everyday, I can tell that she likes me more and more. I'm just worried that I'll slip and say something stupid to make her hate me."

"She doesn't hate you, Dez."

"I know but before Ally and Trish, Austin, you were my only friend." I put my hand on my heart, feigning a hurt expression. He laughs. "You know what I mean, man. Like you were the only person I hung out with, only person I could be myself around. I mean my parents love me, but that doesn't count. Now I have Ally and Trish as friends. I think Trish is the most valued friend, though – no offence to you and Ally – because of the kind of person she is. You were already my friend. Ally is a kind person who doesn't like to hate anyone so she just kind of accepts me for me. Trish had to come to like me on her terms, not anyone else's. And it means a lot that she did. So I don't want to screw up this friendship. I don't like her that way, and the kiss was extremely awkward. I love her, I don't like her."

I beamed at Dez. I don't think I've ever been more proud of him. I applauded. Not a sarcastic applause either. A genuine one. He laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Now, for the juice. You. Ally. Spill."

I laugh. "Spill on what? After she was sick the first time I realized I loved her. I loved her more than anything. Then when she was kidnapped and Trent told me to give up my career – a really stupid condition, by the way – I was ready to do it faster than anything I've ever done. I found myself scared that I'd never see her again and I wouldn't be able to tell her I love her. We're together now. In a relationship. Not an awkward one. A beautiful. I know that you and Trish have been saying it for two years. 'Date, date'! Whatever. We are. But I don't regret not doing it sooner. It gave us the opportunity to really appreciate each other for who we were as individuals, rather than who are as a couple. I love her."

He gives me his signature all-knowing Dez smirk.

Before I could say anything, Trish and Ally come barrelling out of the practice room and downstairs. Dez and I, startled, jump from the stairs and run forward a few steps and turn around, only for me to be wrapped up in a hug by Ally. I see Trish wrapping up Dez in a hug, too, and we just stand there looking at each other, confused and mildly amused. Dez hugs Trish's shoulders before the girls both pull away.

"What was that about?" I ask.

"We heard what you said," Ally explains.

"Both of you," Trish adds, looking pointedly at Dez.

"What?" he squeals, suddenly nervous.

"It's okay, Dez," Trish smiles. "That's how I feel, too. And no I don't hate you. You annoy me 112% of the time – except for now – but I don't hate you." She grins. Dez sighs in relief.

"And just when I thought I couldn't possibly love you anymore than I already do, you go along and say _that_," Ally looks at me and blushes.

I laugh. "I love you, too."

"Group hug!" Dez declares. We all immediately are wrapped up in each other's arms, laughing. It's like one of those movie scenes again. Stupid clichés. I laugh to myself.

**ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW**

While I try not to suffocate in our big hug, I suddenly remember why Trish and I both woke up in the first place. "Oh, Trish!" I exclaim. "Tell them the phone call you received today."

"Oh," she gasps, smiling. She retracts herself from us and stands back. "Okay, Austin, Jimmy Starr called me today."

"...okay?" Austin asked, looking excited.

"Well he wanted to know if you were interested in touring North America next month." She grins.

Austin screams the most girliest of screams. I start laughing so hard Dez has to hold me up in between his own laughs.

"I mean, uh," Austin says suddenly, dramatically deepening his voice. "I'd love to."

"Oh, shut up, we know you're excited!" I yell in between breaths.

"Of course I am," he exclaims, coming back to himself. "What else did he say?"

"He said that he could arrange for all of us to be home schooled..." Trish tells us. "Well, on the tour bus, I guess, not really 'home' schooled... so we can come with you and still graduate. He said the tour would start here in Miami and go to places like Seattle, New York, California, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, and so many more all around! You'd get a tour bus and mini recording studio inside. He said that under no circumstances will you be asked to get a different songwriter. He also said – get this – that he'd fund the paycheck for Ally's dad to hire help so it wouldn't come from his pocket. He said he's so pumped and that he already spoke to each of our families." She leans over to catch a breath.

I swear right there Austin could have cried. And I was right. He did.

He got on his knees and just cried of happiness. We all got down beside him and cried, too. Eventually Sonic Boom was filled with the sounds of quiet laughter and the constant sniffles as we tried to contain ourselves. But we couldn't.

He looks up at me we just stare in to each other's eyes. He leans down and plants a soft kiss on my lips.

_Chasing my fears is one thing,  
and letting them go is beyond me.  
I don't have a clue where to start, but,  
I know I'll be fine if you're with me._

**I don't know where to begin. It's over. I feel like I just started writing it. Like I just got my first review and I thought it was the most amazing feeling ever. No, the best feeling this whole time ****was having you guys beg me to keep writing. It means the world to me that you'd do that. Only a couple flamers were to be seen. My family was behind me 100%. I honestly don't think you realize how important you guys were to the development of this story. It's so crucial that you know how thankful I am for you.**

**Letting this go is going to be hard. I don't want to say goodbye to this story or to you guys. Hopefully you'll stick with me throughout my next crazy story idea. I'll be uploading a new story in a bit.**

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**I love you all. Happy reading. x**

**P.S. I have begun writing a sequel. If you don't read it, it's okay, this story pretty much ended on a good note. :) If you do decide to read it, here's the link:**

** s/9266487/1/Austin-Ally-Tours-and-Targets | Austin & Ally: Tours and Targets.**

** #fearsandfatalities | #toursandtargets**


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